It is not true that GCB, CBG, ADB and NIB are struggling to survive - Razak Kojo Opoku

Razak Kojo Opoku, a member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has said President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo's government has spent about GH¢21 billion to save monies of depositors, the banking and financial ecosystem of Ghana.

He said :"It was never true, and would be mathematically weak, arithmetically impotent and completely ignorant for somebody to think that the distressed banks were in need of GHS9 billion to survive.

“It is never true that, the Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB), Consolidated Bank of Ghana (CBG), Agriculture Development Bank (ADB) and the National Investment (NIB) were struggling and that there were every indication that those banks were doing well."

In a statement copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra, Mr Razak Opoku said the GCB Bank recorded a significant growth in profit before Tax of GH¢573.67million in 2019, from GH¢450.17million in 2018, up by 27.4 per cent.

"This was a solid revenue growth and invested about GH¢10.37 million in Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) activities for 2019."

The statement said CBG registered a significant profit of GH¢64.9 million in the first nine months of 2019, a significant growth in trade of around GH¢44.3 million and fees and commissions income was estimated at GH¢ 24million and depositors from customers stood at GH¢5.4 billion.

On the ADB the statement said it was recapitalized to GH¢571 million which recorded a significant growth of GH¢34 million and GHS 38 million for 2019 and 2018 respectively.

"The ADB Capital Adequacy Ratio also increased from 14. 57 per cent in September 2018 to 15.87 per cent in 2019."

The statement said in 2020, President Akufo-Addo's Government injected GHS 800 million into the operations of the NIB, which helped NIB to close its capital deficit as well as boost its operations, all in an effort to support the national industrialisation agenda of the Akufo-Addo's Government.

Mr Razak Opoku said it was completely unacceptable for anyone to say that the Banks with such significant growths were struggling to survive.

He said the decision of President Akufo-Addo to establish a new bank known as Development Bank Ghana (DBG) with a facility of €170 million from the European Investment Bank (EIB) was an excellent decision that deserved commendation, not condemnation.

Mr Razak Opoku said the Development Bank Ghana would help grow the manufacturing, Information and Communication Technology initiatives such as digitalization & digitization, as well as provide support to the indigenous businesses including agri-business.
GNA