Banks have shown their determination to rebuild the industry to its pre-Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) level of financial soundness and regain a path of growth and profitability.
The 2023 PwC Ghana Banking Survey indicates that the financial performance data reported in the first quarter of 2023 partially confirms that this journey has commenced.
However, the banks acknowledge the need for internal improvements to strengthen their risk shields, enhance risk agility, and enable them to withstand potential future shocks similar to the impact of the DDEP.
As they consider investments to increase their resilience, bank executives have highlighted key actions they would like to see from the government, economic managers, and the industry’s regulator to complement their own efforts.
These actions include the government’s rapid implementation of the Ghana Financial Stability Fund and swift and rigorous policies to bring the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio to sustainable levels.
Additionally, good macroeconomic and macro-financial sector management is sought to bring down interest rates, inflation, and currency depreciation to levels that encourage bank lending to the real economy, thus fueling economic growth.
Lastly, apart from the Bank of Ghana, which is the industry’s regulator, the Ministry of Finance is urged to establish a permanent framework for regular or periodic dialogue with the banking sector.
The survey highlights the impact of the DDEP on the performance of Ghanaian banks in 2022, expresses optimism among bank executives about their future performance, and acknowledges the necessity for adopting different approaches in the future.