The Bank of Ghana will contin­ue to pursue its policy of devel­oping a sound financial system with strong individual institutions, Mr Lionel Vanlare Dosoo, Deputy Governor, Bank of Ghana, has said. He said various reforms embarked upon had consolidated the growth in the financial services industry with diversified products from micro-credit operations through universal banking to international banking. At the official launch of UT Bank in Accra, Mr Dosoo said this was prob­ably the first time a wholly owned Ghanaian financial institution had acquired a majority stake in a foreign-­owned financial institution, re-branded it, resourced it, and made it ready to compete with its peers. UT Financial Services, a non-bank, financial institution listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange, acquired a majority stake in BPI, re-branding it to become UT Bank. The deputy governor stated that the Bank of Ghana was particularly glad that UT Bank was coming on to the stage at this time, and expressed the hope that the bank would draw on its strengths in the area of corporate gov­ernance, knowledge of local market, professionalism and most of all, a customer-focused culture to develop prod­ucts and services to meet the banking needs of its target public. He said this could be done in an atmosphere of fair competition and in a stable, predictable, strong and efficient regulatory framework. Commenting on financia1 literacy and consumer education, Mr Dosoo advised the bank to make consumer education part of its culture, pointing out that prospective borrowers should be made to understand the true nature of their loan contracts. He said the Borrowers and Lenders Act provided the framework for full disclosure and the role of collateral in the delivery of credit, and that non-governmental organisations, public and quasi-public agencies must also be encouraged to participate in active bor­rower education programmes. He also suggested that consumer financial edu­cation efforts must be extended to high schools and colleges. Mr Dosoo assured the financial community that the Bank of Ghana had, on a regular basis, taken every step to monitor all the channels of potential impact of the global finan­cial crisis on the country's financial sector and the economy as a whole. Source: Daily Graphic