Banks capital quality boosted due to implementation of Basel Capital Standards – Governor

The Bank of Ghana has stated that the implementation of the Basel Capital Standards issued in the 2018 notice on Capital Requirement Directive has led to improvements in the quantity and quality of capital of banks.

According to the Governor, Dr. Ernest Addison, the introduction of capital buffers was a critical source of cushioning to banks against the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the more recent domestic debt restructuring.

Whilst Basel II is an international business standard that requires financial institutions to maintain enough cash reserves to cover risks incurred by their operations, Basel III is a framework that sets international standards for bank capital adequacy, stress testing, and liquidity requirements.

Speaking at the Chartered Institute of Bankers Governors Day, Dr. Addison pointed out that the Central Bank will continue to roll out the Basel II/III capital standards aimed at enhancing and sustaining the resilience of the banking sector.

Additionally, he said banks’ compliance with the Corporate Governance Directive issued in 2018 has helped improve the quality of oversight of banks and has largely stemmed failures in the banking system.

“Despite the challenges during the year [2023], we did not renege on our drive to embrace financial inclusion as a policy objective, recognising its potential for broad-based economic growth and poverty alleviation”, he stressed.

 Accordingly, the Governor said the Bank of Ghana continued to use its policy and regulatory tools to provide the enabling regulatory environment to promote digital financial services to the benefit of all economic actors.

Currently, he said, 52 non-bank payment service providers offer various forms of payment solutions to meet the increasing expectations of consumers.

To further advance fintech activities, Dr. Addison mentioned that the Central Bank successfully engaged market players such as banks, DEMIs, PSPs, and MTOs in the inward remittance termination space to identify issues and implement policies and measures associated with inward remittance termination services to ensure a level playing field for all market participants.

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