• He said the performance of the banking sector remained strong at the end of 2020, with robust growth in total assets, deposits and investment
• He noted that the increase in total assets resulted in strong growth in investments in government securities
Dr Anthony Aubynn, the Board Chairman of ARB Apex Bank, has stated that Ghana's banking sector remains strong despite the setbacks of the COVID-19 pandemic since 2020.
According to him, many businesses were greatly affected by the pandemic and this crippled the country’s economy because production and trading halted for a while.
Speaking at the 19th Annual General Meeting of ARB Apex Bank Limited in Accra, Dr Aubynn said, the country’ economy has been formidable and economic growth is also improving.
"The performance of the banking sector remained strong at the end of 2020, with robust growth in total assets, deposits and investment,” he said.
His statements are in line with statistics from the Ministry of Finance with real GDP growth declining from 6.5% in 2019 to 1.7% in 2020 due to a slump in oil prices and weakened global economic activity and inflation closing the year at 10.6% in 2020 from 8.7% in 2019 due to pandemic-related interruptions in supply chains and increase in food prices occasioned by panic-buying during the lockdown in 2020.
However, he noted that the increase in total assets resulted in strong growth in investments in government securities.
Dr Aubynn said despite these challenges, the banking sector reform by the government, including the recapitalization of banks, has enhanced the overall resilience of the sector.
"Overall, the impact of the pandemic on the industry's performance seems moderate, as banks remained liquid, profitable and well-capitalized", Dr Aubynn stated.
Meanwhile, total deposits recorded significant year-on-year growth, reflecting strong liquidity flows emanating from the COVID-19 fiscal stimulus package and payments to contractors by the government.
Dr Anthony Aubynn, the Board Chairman of ARB Apex Bank