An expert in banking and finance, Dr. Richard Atuahene, has asked the Bank of Ghana (BoG) and the government to boost the Ghana Financial Stability Fund in order to guarantee the survival of struggling local banks.

During an appearance on The Big Issue on Citi TV and Citi FM, Dr. Atuahene emphasized that, in the wake of the domestic debt exchange programme, properly establishing the Ghana Financial Stability Fund would provide significant relief for struggling banks.

“The way out is when the Ghana Financial Stability Fund is done perfectly…If you call on the shareholder to recapitalize these losses whereas the state which brought these losses does nothing, it worsens our fiscal situation.”

Dr. Atuahene also cautioned against the government’s excessive borrowing, emphasizing that it could become costly for the country if the borrowed funds are not utilized productively.

“The way we are borrowing out and not putting it to productive use, a time will come, we will have to pay through our nose.”

The Ghana Financial Stability Fund was established with a target size of GH¢15 billion to be provided by the Government of Ghana and its development partners.

The Fund is aimed at providing liquidity to financial institutions that participated fully in the Domestic Debt Exchange.

All financial institutions (banks, SDIs, pension schemes, collective investment schemes, fund managers, broker/dealers, insurance firms) that fully participated in the Debt Exchange could access the GFSF for augmented liquidity support, with effect from the date of completion of the Debt Exchange.

The Fund is managed by the Bank of Ghana under unique operational guidelines being developed by the Financial Stability Council.