Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has revealed that about GHS11.7 billion was spent in the banking sector clean up.

Presenting the 2020 budget to Parliament Mr Ofori-Atta said the clean-up was government’s way of intervening to save depositors and investors whose funds were locked up in failed financial institutions.

 “The intervention of the government to save depositors and investors whose funds were locked up in failed financial institution has been very costly,” he said.

“In 2017 and 2018 the government spent 11.7 billion cedis to save depositors held by banks that were resolved by the Bank of Ghana and set up the Consolidated Bank Limited,” he said.

He further added that the government spent GHS1.5 million to revoke the licenses of certain financial institutions all in the interest of safeguarding depositors and investors.

“This year government had to intervene again to provide relief to depositors when the Bank of  Ghana revoked the licenses of 347 micro-finance institutions, 15 savings and loans and eight finance houses. Our total cost for this exercise was about 1.5 million cedis,” he added.