Bank Of Ghana increases capital requirement of commercial banks to GHS 400 million

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) will on Monday announce a new capital requirement of 400 million cedis for banks in the country, an official at the central bank has confirmed to Citi Business News.

This represents an increase of 333.3 percent from the previous 120 million cedis.

By this, banks in the country will be required to set aside 400 million cedis in capital to be supervised by the central bank.

The Governor of BoG, Dr Ernest Addison, announced the figure to Chief Executives of banks today, Friday, September 8, 2017.

Citi Business News has gathered that banks will be given until December 2018 to meet the new requirement.

Ghana’s banking sector recently suffered a setback after assets and deposits of UT Bank and Capital were takenover by GCB Bank.

The takeover confirmed reports of some 8 banks which were under distress.

Some financial observers have called for an increase in the capital requirement to force banks to merge.

Currently, there are about 31 banks in the country; a number some observers say is too high for Ghana’s economy.

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The last time the central bank increased the capital requirement of banks was in 2012 when it was increased from 60 million cedis to 120 million cedis.

At the time new banks were required to meet the new figure while existing banks were given some period to meet it.