The Second Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Elsie Addo Awadzi, giving clarifications on issues relating to the collapse of companies has noted that, the Central Bank of Ghana was not responsible for the downfall of financial institutions in the country.
According to Mrs. Awadzi, the Bank of Ghana eliminates an institution from the system or halts a business operation, when it is not performing or meeting the necessary desired financial requirements.
“These institutions had become failed institutions as they were insolvent or severely undercapitalized with no prospects of recovery. Many of them were unable to meet their obligations to customers and other creditors, and their continued existence affected the stability of the rest of the financial system.
“BoG had to take the necessary measures by resorting to the relevant law under which it regulates and supervises the industry, hence the Central Bank in its own accord did not collapse the institutions.”
Mrs. Elsie Addo Awadzi
Mrs. Addo Awadzi speaking at a media sensitization workshop organized by the Bank of Ghana and Associations representing Specialized Deposit-Taking Institutions (SDTIs), cautioned the media to use the right terminologies in conveying their reports on the sector, in order to send the right messages to the public.
Media Distorting Information
According to Mrs. Addo Awadzi, some headlines report by most media firms tend to distort the vital point in an event within the sector, but rather position false information and impression about the Central Bank in the minds of the citizens.
“It is important that the media leads the public discourse in a dispassionate and expert manner. We have heard too often, headlines such as ‘Bank of Ghana has collapsed companies’. Bank of Ghana never collapses anything. No. We license, we supervise, and then when an institution has failed, we take it out of the system in a manner that does not affect the system.
“So do not say ‘Bank of Ghana has collapsed anything’. Bank of Ghana does not collapse anything. These institutions are run and governed by their shareholders, who put their Board of Directors and a team of management. So, they collapsed the companies. We don’t collapse the companies. It is important for the media to understand that.”
Mrs. Elsie Addo Awadzi
Mrs. Elsie Addo Awadzi further urged the media firms to grow, to understand and become a key partner that understands the financial sector and the regulatory framework within which the financial sector operates.
The media sensitization event brought together strong key players in the sector, and as well presented a rare opportunity for the Association of the Specialized Deposit-Taking Institutions to better explain their operations to the media.
The event also enabled the media to ask appropriate questions pertaining the role of the key players in the sector, and provide feedback to the SDIs as to what the public thinks of their service.
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