Credit performance improved marginally, consistent with the gradual recovery in the real sector, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) Dr Ernest Addison has said.
Annual nominal growth in private sector credit increased to 11.2 percent in December 2021 compared with 10.6 percent, in the corresponding period of 2020, he added.
However, he said, sustained price pressures weighed on real private sector credit, which contracted by 1.3 percent compared to a modest growth of 0.2 percent, over the same comparative period.
“The COVID19 regulatory policy measures were kept in place during 2021 and helped provide some support to lending activities of banks. New Advances extended by the commercial banks to the economy was GH¢36.4 billion, registering a growth of 6.8 percent compared with new advances of GH¢34.1 billion extended in 2020.On the money market, interest rates reflected mixed trends across the yield curve.
“The 91-day and 182-day Treasury bill rates declined to 12.49 percent and 13.19 percent respectively in December 2021, from 14.08 percent and 14.13 percent respectively, in December 2020. Similarly, the rate on the 364- day instrument decreased marginally to 16.46 percent from 16.98 percent over the same comparative period.
“Rates on the 2-year and 5-year bonds increased to 19.75 percent and 21.00 percent respectively, from 18.50 percent and 19.85 percent respectively, while rates on the 3-year, 6-year, 7-year and 10-year bonds broadly declined.
“The rates on the 15-year and 20-year bonds, however, remained unchanged at 19.75 percent and 20.20 percent respectively, over the same comparative period,” he said during the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) press conference in Accra on Monday January 31.
By Laud Nartey|3news.com|Ghana