The 2023 Ghana Banking Survey by PwC has revealed that bank executives continued to predict that there would be challenging economic hurdles in the future.

However, they remained confident in their full and quick comeback.

The survey on the theme “Hardwiring Resilience and Agility into Banks’ Business Models”, also found that most banks wished that they had taken a less significant position in government securities due to the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP).

The banks thought they should have used more robust economic policy analysis and market research to improve their ability to predict economic risks.

From the survey, PwC realised that the impact of the DDEP on banks' businesses were varied and far-reaching: profitability, liquidity management, solvency, investor perceptions, and asset portfolio quality dominated the responses on impact.

Second phase of DDEP

The second phase of DDEP is currently underway with memorandum of exchanges issued by the Ministry of Finance on the domestic dollar instruments and Ghana Cocoa Board on the cocoa bills. Unlike the first, the tenor under the second phase for the eligible instruments are much shorter with arguably improved returns.

The report said the response of the banking industry on the second phase of the DDEP appears to be calm.

It stated that industry players believe the impairment already taken on this round two eligible instruments will be more than enough for any modification loss required given the improved terms when these eligible instruments eventually are exchanged for the new ones.

“I hope that this report will provide some fresh insights for your decisions as the industry steers towards growth. I also hope that we have been able to convey, through the report, the positive outlook that bank executives hold about the future of banks. To the participating banks, we are grateful for your participation and for the financial information and insights you shared with us by completing the survey questionnaire”, Vish Ashiagbor, Country Senior Partner at PwC stated.