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Bloomberg
The cost of Ghana’s financial sector clean-up risks escalating to 20 billion cedis ($3.5 billion) as the government weighs increasing the guaranteed payback for some depositors, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta said.
The West African nation has approved funding of about 16.4 billion cedis since 2017 to help recapitalise the industry and safeguard depositors’ funds after the central bank revoked the licenses of nine insolvent lenders and 23 second-tier institutions. The Bank of Ghana previously guaranteed 100% of funds deposited at banks, but only as much as 20,000 cedis per person for the customers of failed second-tier lenders, known as savings and loans companies.
The government has requested the central bank and finance ministry to also consider a full guarantee for deposits locked up at failed second-tier lenders, Ofori-Atta said by phone.
The ministry will “see if we can find some room to pay a little bit more,†he said.