Former President John Mahama has described as “predatory”, the Akufo-Addo administration’s handling of the crisis facing the country’s banking and general financial sector.
That, according to him, is the cause of the worrying job losses being experienced in all facet of the economy lately.
Over one million Ghanaians have lost their jobs since 2017, according to Centre for Socioeconomic Studies (CSS) figures published this year.
Seven indigenous banks collapsed including, Sovereign bank, Beige bank, Royal bank, Construction bank, uniBank, Capital bank, and UT bank have collapsed since 2017.
Five of the above banks were earlier this year merged under the name Consolidated Bank of Ghana.
Government says the collapse of the seven banks cost it an amount of GH¢9.9 billion and its intervention saved deposits of some GH¢11.0 billion.
Former President Mahama is however not impressed, noting that the government predatory approach and ineptitude to the crisis was to blame for the collapse of the seven banks
“Banks belonging to Ghanaians have been closed and the Akufo-Addo administration’s predatory approach towards indigenous investors in that sector has created a panic run on the remaining surviving Ghanaian institutions.
“This has gravely affected small and medium enterprise lending and has led to significant job losses,” said Mahama Saturday in his address at the NDC’s National Delegates’ Congress.
“We must, therefore, put our best foot forward to rescue Ghana from the abysmal performance of the Nana Akufo-Addo and the New Patriotic Party administration,” he told the cheering delegates who will be voting to select national executives for the NDC to steer its affairs ahead of the 2020 general elections.
“This congress represents the hopes and aspiration of our country. It is a divine calling to which we as a party must answer,” said Mahama adding, that the NDC cannot fail the hardworking farmers, the fishermen, the artisans, the teachers, the nurses, other public sector workers, the business and investment communities who had seen the clear difference between “our great party and the NPP.”
Source: Ghana/Starrfmonline.com/103.5FM
