President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has appealed to banks and other financial institutions to increase capital to the private sector.
The president highlighted that lending to the private sector in Ghana is one of the lowest in West Africa, a narrative he said should change.
He was speaking at the presidential breakfast meeting on Agriculture and Agribusiness financing in Accra, on Monday, October 16.
He said “The poor credit culture is something that we need to look at very seriously in Ghana. To hear the statement that the level of credit that has come from our financial system to our private sector is one of the lowest in West Africa is also a very disturbing phenomenon. We are lower than Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire and others.”
He further said that despite all the challenges facing Ghana, the economy is the second biggest in the whole of West Africa.
“All of this is against the background that we are still the second biggest economy in West Africa,” he said.
He added “There is a tendency for a lot of people to forget that in spite of all the challenges before the Ghanaian economy, we are the second biggest economy in West Africa.
“Even with that situation if the amount of money that goes from the banks to the private sector is the lowest in West Africa, my mind boggles, that if these figures were to rise a little bit the transformation that it would bring to our GDP growth, so we need to look at that.”