ECONOMY of closes seven in banking crisis Ghana has over the past one year been embroiled in a banking crisis with the closure of seven banks, the assumption of two by GCB Bank Ltd and the consolidation of the others into a new one, writes *Etornam Nyalatorgbi.

UT Bank (one of the defunct banks) Insert: Dr. Addison, Governor of

hana is licking the wounds from ``Poor banking practices, coupled ``There was unusual forbearance by the its worst banking crisis ever. with weak supervision and regulation by Bank of Ghana, which resulted in the ex- Seven bank closures within the the Bank of Ghana has significantly un- tension of significant amounts of emer- Gspace of one year, about 2,700 jobs on dermined the stability of the banking and gency liquidity assistance to these ailing the line and government piling onto its other non-bank financial institutions,’’ banks.’’ debt 7.9 billion cedis ($1.7 billion) to Governor Dr. Ernest Ad- It is not abnormal for banks to fall pay for the difference between liabilities dison, said in March when he placed the on the Central Bank’s Emergency Li- and assets of the collapsed banks to allow now defunct uniBank Ltd. under the ad- quidity Assistance when they are short of other lenders take them over. ministration of accounting firm KPMG. cash to meet depositors’ demands once

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“GCB Bank has sacked 450 staff of the two de- funct banks it took over with plans to cut 250 more. has sacked 700 workers of former Beige Bank out of a plan to axe 2,000 workers from the five failed banks. The assets controlled by the current defunct banks are worth $2.1 billion.”

the industry is currently battling and cause banks to tighten credit, with the GCB Bank absorbed two of the banks attendant impact on GDP expansion. By the end of June this year, 22.6 percent, a while. It is in the event of a bank con- failed to improve over time, uniBank, or 8.7 billion cedis of total industry sistently using this window to function Royal Bank, Sovereign Bank, Beige Bank were non-performing, according to the as a financial institution instead of the Ltd. and Construction Bank Ghana Ltd. Bank of Ghana. normal practice of taking overnight fa- were pronounced insolvent on August 1. GCB Bank has sacked 450 staff of cilities from other lenders that makes it This time round the government set up the two defunct banks it took over with problematic and draws regulator-probe. a new lender called Consolidated Bank plans to cut 250 more. Consolidated Just to be sure, such facilities from the Ghana Ltd., with 450 million cedis paid- Bank Ghana has sacked 700 workers of lender-of-last-resort come at a punitive up minimum capital, which assumed the former Beige Bank out of a plan to axe charge because under normal circum- liabilities and selected assets of the five 2,000 workers from the five failed banks. stances the interbank borrowing market failed banks. The assets controlled by the current de- should work for every bank. Meanwhile, the government issued funct banks are worth $2.1 billion. Starting in 2015, UT Bank Ltd. 2.2 billion cedis bonds to GCB Bank to There was therefore adequate eco- took a total 860 million cedis and Capi- meet its gap after UT and nomic ground for the central bank to tal Bank Ltd. received 620 million cedis had been absorbed while Consolidat- intervene to preserve confidence in the in liquidity support from the Bank of ed Bank Ghana got 5.7 billion cedis in banking industry and curb systemic loss Ghana. Coupled with rising non-per- bonds so assets could match liabilities through depositors deciding to keep forming loans and failure to meet capi- assumed. their funds in their rooms and break tal adequacy ratios, the central bank was The bonds issued by the govern- down of the cultured interdependence of left with nothing but to ask state-owned ment together with other expenses to banks. While the government may not GCB Bank Ltd. to take over their liabili- address the bank failures may shoot gov- have needed to cough up 7.9 billion ce- ties and selected assets in August 2017. ernment debt to 72.4 percent of gross dis if the banks were allowed to fail and Leading up to the (resolution) disso- domestic product by the end of 2018, fold up on their own and depositors left lution of five other privately-owned local from 69.1 percent a year earlier, accord- to their fate, the cascading effect of that banks in August this year, one of them, ing to Moody’s Investors Service. Al- approach could have resulted into much uniBank, alone took 3.1 billion cedis ready, Ghana spends about a third of its higher cost to the economy and social between 2015 and June 2018 of which tax revenue on interest payments. With fabric of the country as some of the fail- some 1.6 billion cedis was uncollateral- rising debt, investors will likely become ures were negligence on corporate gover- ized, posing risk to the central bank itself, less willing to lend to government to ex- nance by the banks. according Dr. Addison. Royal Bank Ltd. ecute budget programs and other devel- Banks would start showing signs and Sovereign Bank Ltd. also sought and opment projects, unless the government of weakness, poor corporate governance received significant emergency liquidity attracts them with higher interest rates. and poor credit practices well before support from the central bank. In addi- Higher interest rates would exacerbate their falling into trouble and beginning tion to weak capital adequacy ratios that the problem of non-performing loans to ask for large amounts of emergency

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from banking supervisory reports that some banks and deposit taking institu- tions lacked good corporate governance structures and more worryingly, was the co-mingling of board and management responsibilities which significantly un- dermined credit and risk management policies. In fact, there were several own- er/management conflicts in a number of banks.’’ Ghana’s untamed budget deficits, high inflation and depreciating curren- cy in the few years prior to 2015, played major role in building the disastrous pressures in the banking industry that would later explode into the crisis. The The new bank formed out of the five country’s budget deficit as a percentage of GDP hit 10 percent for a third straight liquidity support from the regulator. The by the banks was misapplied. Dr. Addi- year in 2014. The development, which question one therefore asks is why didn’t son in July this year made it known that put upward pressure on domestic prices the central bank pick any signals ahead of uniBank loaned out some of its liquid- also meant less resource availability to the 2015 when the banks began depending ity support to Belstar Capital Ltd. to private sector, as well as cheap deposits to heavily on the emergency facility to meet acquire shares in Agricultural Develop- banks. The inflation rate advanced to 17 depositors’ withdrawals? If they picked ment Bank Ltd., during its initial public percent at the end of 2015 from 10 per- signals, what remedial actions did they offering (IPO) in 2016, to become one cent at the beginning of 2013 with the instruct the banks to implement? If they of the bank’s top three shareholders. In central bank increasing its policy interest did, was it followed through by the banks all uniBank extended 5.3 billion cedis to rate to 26 percent from 15 percent over and if the banks did not, why were no shareholders, related and connected par- the period. major punishments meted until now that ties, 3.7 billion cedis of which was not The economic hardship made it dif- licenses have been revoked? Even if one reported to the central bank and the rest ficult for companies and individuals to bank was put under administration like did not follow due process before dis- pay back debt thus setting the precedence uniBank was initially placed in March, bursements, Dr. Addison said. While this for non-performing loans problems. It that would have deterred a lot of the fur- reveals poor corporate governance at the was therefore not surprising when the ther wrong doing that later ensued. company, perhaps a bit of scrutiny by the Revelations after the crisis suggest central bank, how its liquidity support government agreed to an International that the central bank failed on almost all was being applied would have unearthed Monetary Fund bailout program in April of the above questions, as Dr. Addison’s and averted other porous credit practices 2015 for an almost $1 billion to help comment already noted. It has emerged at uniBank and officials found culpable address the economic environment. The that Bank of Ghana promised to give punished accordingly. program was extended by one year by the advisers to those who took larger than An investigative report by the Bank new administration and ends in April normal amounts of liquidity support in of Ghana, said UT Bank lent close to next year. 2015, to guide them on how to deploy 300 million cedis to Ibrahim Mahama, a The troubling situation in the finan- the facilities efficiently, however, this businessman and brother of former Pres- cial sector of Ghana, has led to an emerg- was not done, said Ace Ankomah, an ident Mahama. Apart from the fact that ing loss of confidence in the sector with -based lawyer with Bentsi-Enchill, this is a politically exposed person and panic withdrawals by customers of some Letsa & Ankomah, in a news analysis specific laid down procedure for such of the local banks. This also coincides programme on Joy FM, a local FM radio. clients was to be followed before dis- with the crisis in the microfinance and Also, the emergency liquidity support is bursement, the amount was also too big savings and loans sub-sectors with default only dispensed after borrowers provide compared with UT Bank’s single obligor in payments by most of these companies. collateral, however, the central bank gave limit of about 20 million cedis. It was Worrying as it is, some commentators out the facility even in cases without se- stated in the report, according to Accra welcome it because it is a ‘house-clearing’ curity, said Governor Addison, who be- based radio station, Joy FM that there exercise long overdue and would help sa- came governor of the Central Bank in were “poor credit management practices, nitise the financial sector. April 2017. poor credit governance and supervision” As it turned out, majority of the at the bank. *Etornam Nyalatorgbi is a freelance writer emergency liquidity support received As Dr. Addison put it, ``It was clear based in Accra, Ghana.

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