Anthony Sarpong, a senior partner at the accounting and auditing firm KPMG Ghana, has counselled the Bank of Ghana and other central banks in Africa to view the failure of banks in developed countries as a warning to the banking industry to avoid a similar situation in the future.
Maintaining sufficient liquidity to cover customer withdrawals, in his opinion, is one way to stop bank failure.
He said the failure of those banks is a wake-up call that must not be disregarded in an interview with Joy Business following the collapse of US Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, and other larger financial institutions.
However, he expressed assurance that the steps taken by the Bank of Ghana to support banks will be successful.
“You noticed that the regulator has taken swift action to contain the effect of what is happening in the United States on the banking sector and any potential spill-over. So we won’t expect any effects”.
“However, it’s a developing situation and therefore must be watched with caution so that the fear it triggered in the US does not have a negative impact on Ghanaian banks as we go through our own challenges, he explained.
Furthermore, Mr. Sarpong urged the Bank of Ghana to ensure sufficient liquidity in the banking industry.
“The main area is to ensure sufficient liquidity of the banks, and the Bank of Ghana has assured of liquidity support to our banks. So one will be sure that we won’t go through a similar situation as we go on with our own debt restructuring”..
On March 10, Silicon Valley Bank, one of the most prominent lenders in the start-up ecosystem, collapsed.
