Bridge wide policy rate-bank lending rate gap – Akufo-Addo to BoG

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has urged the Bank of Ghana to lead the way in bridging the gap between its policy rate and the lending rates of commercial banks.

Speaking at the swearing-in ceremony of the central bank’s new board of directors at the Jubilee House on Friday, 20 August 2021, President Akufo-Addo said: “May I use this occasion to bring into focus, a matter of great importance to the rapid growth of our economy: that is to urge the Bank to interrogate the issue of high interest rates in Ghana and how the problem should be addressed to enhance the competitiveness of the private sector”.

“It is surely not right that the central bank’s monetary policy rate stands at 13.5 per cent while the commercial banks lend to the private sector at rates of 21 per cent and above”, Mr Akufo-Addo decried.

He said: “This is a gap we have to bridge if we are to realise the vision of a Ghana whose economy is globally competitive”.

The president added: “I believe the Bank of Ghana is best-placed to lead this process of reflection and action”.

According to him, even though the bank has full autonomy, it “does not mean the Bank’s policy should be at variance with the government’s overall macroeconomic policy”.

“With 64 years of experience behind us, I believe we have learnt or should have learnt, lessons both from our own history and from the experiences of other countries, about how this partnership, should work”, the president pointed out.