Accra, Jan.28, GNA – Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo, the Presidential Adviser, says the government is committed to expanding the housing scheme with the supply of affordable houses through the state housing company.
He said the government was supporting developers with cheaper loans for the construction of affordable housing units to address the housing deficit in the country.
The Presidential Advisor, speaking on Friday at the commissioning of the Republic Court Building in Accra, expressed the government’s appreciation to Republic Bank for the leadership shown in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“You were the first Bank in Ghana to announce a loan moratorium and other reliefs for your Customers. You also supported the COVID-19 Private Sector Fund during the construction of the Infectious Isolation and Treatment Centre and donated to various health centres,” he said.
He said the Bank had for a very long time partnered with the government in the Public Sector Mortgage Scheme, stressing the Bank was a key player during the development and implementation of the National Housing and Mortgage Fund.
The Fund continued to provide public sectors workers with affordable mortgage loans highly subsidized by the Government.
He said the government recognized and appreciated the Bank for their partnership in the beautification project of Accra by the adoption of the African Union Square for greening and maintenance.
Mr Osafo-Maafo said the government had over the last three years mounted a campaign to formalize the economy through digitization and the effective use of the Ghana Card system, adding that the Bank of Ghana issued a directive that from July 1, 2022, the Ghana Card would be the only card to be used to undertake transactions at all licensed and regulated financial institutions in Ghana.
He advised the Bank to make available Credit Cards to the ordinary working Ghanaian and not only to the privileged few to boost the cash lite society drive while maximizing value in fees and commissions for the Banks.
Mr Charles Zwennes, Board Chairman, Republic Bank Ghana, said the Bank owe the edifice to its clients for the confidence reposed in the management and staff for their hard work and continuous dedication to the institution.
The Bank, he said, was making financial services convenient, reliable and accessible through innovation and digitization of banking processes and pledged to come up with innovative ideas, products or services to meet the needs of customers.
He said the bank had an asset base of USD 16-billion, a good corporate governance structure and universal products and services and they were targeting to grow as a Tier 1 Bank in Ghana.
Dr Ernest Addison, the Governor, Bank of Ghana, said the Republic Bank had distinguished itself as a bank with a mission to implement sound policies and provide personalised, efficient, and competitively-priced financial services to the benefit of customers, staff, shareholders and the various communities.
He said the Bank had been instrumental in the development of the mortgage industry and continued to play a leading role in the mortgage sector in the country and it was not surprising that Republic Bank was shortlisted as one of the three Banks to partner the National Housing and Mortgage Fund to deliver on Government’s affordable housing project.
The Governor said the Bank recorded strong deposit growth of 15.6 per cent in the last quarter of 2021 due to the enhanced mobilization strategy.
He said the Bank’s total assets also grew by 71.7 per cent over the same review period, and the Capital Adequacy Ratio of 23.7 was above the regulatory requirement as of end-December 2021.
GNA