Banking consultant Dr. Richmond Atuahene has criticized the Bank of Ghana's efforts to restore confidence in the financial sector, stating that they are insufficient.

Dr. Atuahene's comment comes in response to the International Monetary Fund's suggestion that some financial institutions may face collapse due to the impact of the debt exchange and the subsequent IMF program.

The IMF has recommended that the government encourage these institutions to engage in mergers and acquisitions to prevent a financial sector collapse.

Highlighting the impact of the domestic debt exchange program, Dr. Atuahene mentioned that the banking sector, in particular, has been severely affected, leading to international banks initiating capital planning measures.

However, he noted that local banks are unable to adequately plan for the next four years, despite the support from the Central Bank.

“From where I sit, it would be very difficult to say what we have put in place will be quite sufficient to deal with the programme for the next four years," he said.

He called for further action to be taken to prevent a collapse in the banking sector.

Speaking on JoyNews' PM Express, Dr. Atuahene emphasized that the erosion of banking capital is just one of the many challenges facing the banking sector and the broader financial sector as the country begins its IMF program.

“..the confidence in the industry, both in the financial industry including the banking sector is not going to recover as people think that it will recover. It’s going to take a long time.

“For the liquidity, I’ve always said that because of information asymmetry in the industry, nobody is running here and there look for their monies. And I believe that we could have done better because the banking sector or the financial sector would need at least 3 billion to be able to recover. Including the pensions, insurance and the banks,” he said.