The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has been awarded by President Akufo-Addo for its contribution in the fight against Covid-19.

The award was to honour the institution for being proactive in raising GH¢10 billion to aid government’s implementation of Covid-19 policies.

It is also in recognition of the bank’s partnership with the private sector to raise an additional GH¢10 million grant to fast-track the construction of the Infectious Disease Centre at the Ga East Government Hospital.

The financial institution was honoured at the National Honours and Awards 2023, held at the Accra International Conference Centre on Tuesday.

In a press release on March 14, the Bank expressed its gratitude to President Akufo-Addo for the acknowledgement.

“The Bank wishes to express its gratitude to His Excellency, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for the recognition of these unconventional policy measures, which was borne out of our quest to support the Government’s programme to preserve lives and ensure a safe and stable environment for economic growth,” portions of the release read.

The release further stated that the bank has noted the concerns of Ghanaians over the current economic crisis. The BOG explained that there were external factors which impacted the delivery of their mandate.

“Since 2020, Central Banks all over the world have witnessed significant changes in the conduct of monetary policy due to the persistence of enormous shocks to the global economy. The spillover effects of these shocks were severe and costly, but have tendered to be grossly underestimated in the narrative of current economic developments in Ghana,” it said.

The statement added that Covid-19 globally impacted the banking sector since “Central banks were placed at the forefront and acted in concert with fiscal authorities to take swift and forceful actions to preserve human lives. Most central banks cut interest rates, they also injected large amounts of liquidity to ensure financial stability amid an economic and health crisis. Different tools were deployed to achieve objectives during the crisis – short term instruments, lending to financial institutions, outright purchases of government bonds, and regulatory and supervisory actions on the financial institutions.”

Meanwhile, BoG assured that all the decisions it took were in good faith and is confident that the economy will return to the path of stability and stronger growth sooner than later.

Other individuals, institutions and partners who distinguished themselves in the fight against Covid-19 were also awarded.