The Bank of Ghana says the banking sector remains liquid, profitable and well capitalized with strong buffers to withstand adverse shocks and support the country’s recovery efforts from the pandemic.

According to the Central Bank, asset quality of the financial intermediaries has also improved.

“The Financial Soundness Indicators and the Banking Sector Stability Index remain in high positive territories. The industry’s CAR of 20.0 percent as at end October 2020 remains well above the regulatory minimum threshold”, it revealed in its November 2020 Monetary Policy Committee Report.

The latest banking sector data as of October 2020 indicated that total assets grew by 23.7% year-on-year to GH¢150.0 billion while deposits also recorded an annual growth of 27% to GH¢100.2 billion.

Total advances also went up by 13.7% year-on-year to GH¢47.4 billion over the period.

On credit conditions, the Bank of Ghana said the latest credit conditions survey conducted in October 2020 showed a net easing in overall credit stance on loans to enterprises and households.

The survey results also showed that with the recovery in economic activities underway, demand for loans over the next two months is also expected to rise.

The weighted average interbank lending rate, that is the rate at which banks lend to each other, also declined to 13.6% in October 2020, from 15.2% same period last year.

The downward adjustment the report said was driven by the cut in the monetary policy rate in March 2020.

Average lending rates of banks eased significantly to 21.3% from 24.0% over the same comparative period.