According to him, the country is no longer attractive for capital investments due to its high debt levels.
He, however, recognized the fact that due to the International Monetary Fund bailout; the country is coming out of it.
“We have to also take cognizance of the fact that Ghana is not particularly an attractive destination for capital at the moment given all the market fundamentals that we have moving against us. But we are coming out. I read the IMF that said we’re gradually working our way out,” he said on JoyNews.
John Awuah said the banks have built buffers after the debt exchange programme plunged them into significant losses.
“The way the banks have managed to weather the storm during these difficult periods where we’ve had to take on some significant losses, it should tell you that the banks had built up the required capital buffers.
“Of course, there are one or two or three banks that would need some capital top-ups in order to operate within the regulatory confines. But we have some time through the regulatory reliefs that the Bank of Ghana gave to the industry to work our way back into the right capital levels,” he said.
He added that “But as I say, if you’re a bank if the regulator says three years, it’s in your own interest that your kind of upfront manage your capital requirements to make sure that if it is three years, you’re working within a shorter period to bring in capital.”
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John Awuah, President of the Ghana Association of Bankers