Chief Executive Officer of the Atwima Kwanwoma Rural Bank, Samuel Bonsu Sekyere, has bemoaned the low growth in the banking sector post-Covid-19.

With the country’s high inflation of 54.1% as of December 2022 and the cedi’s 30% depreciation against the dollar, the banking sector recorded a slow pace of growth.

According to Mr. Bonsu Sekyere, policy initiatives introduced by the government including the Domestic Debt Exchange Program (DDEP) affected the banking industry and its growth.

In 2022, the government announced the domestic debt exchange program which required investors to surrender their existing bonds in exchange for new government bonds with maturity up to 15 years. This alongside other policies, affected economic growth.

At the 40th anniversary celebration of Atwima Kwanwoma Rural Bank, the CEO of the Bank, Samuel Bonsu Sekyere said government policies affected the banking industry in 2022.

“Government policies affected our operations such as the Domestic Debt exchange program that we are all familiar with. It affected all banks,” he indicated.

President of the Association of Rural Banks, Kwame Owusu Sekyere says although the banking sector recorded a low growth in 2022, the rate is encouraging.

“If you look at how the system was and how people perceived the challenges, we see that yes, we are picking up and looking at the rural bank industry, a lot of banks and their profit shows it's encouraging,” he said.

Atwima Kwanwoma Rural Bank celebrated 40 years of banking and its impact in the sector.

The CEO, Samuel Bonsu Sekyere, assured customers of the bank’s commitment to delivering quality services.

“We have been here for 40 years and the level of operation we have had for 40 years has helped us build a very robust bank and so we are a bank that can meet their needs,” he added.