Banking Industry: Banks increase assets by GHS 30 billion at end-2021
Total assets value of the various universal banks in the country amounted to GHS 179.8 billion at the end of 2021.
From the previous year’s – 2020 – total assets value of GHS 149.3 billion, the recorded GHS 179.8 billion figure of 2021 marks a GHS 30.5 billion increase in assets.
In percentage terms, this also marks a 4.6 percentage points increase in assets value on a year-on-year (yoy) basis.
Regarding total customer deposits for the review period, data contained in the Bank of Ghana’s (BoG) January 2022 Summary of Economic and Financial Data indicates that customer deposits grew from GHS 103.8 billion to GHS 121.1 billion.
The growth in customer deposits for the review period 4 years after the financial sector clean-up exercise embarked on by government in 2017, reflects the continuing renewed confidence of Ghanaians in the banking industry.
Loans and advances as a percentage of the industry’s assets value increased from 5.8% to 12.6% yoy.
In monetary terms, this translates into some GHS 6 billion increase in loans and advances made to the private sector by banks from end-December 2020 to end-December 2021.
Total loans and advances per the BoG report stood at GHS 53.8 billion at end 2021 from the figure of GHS 43.8 billion at end -2020.
Of the industry’s total assets value, customer deposits and loans represented 16.6% and 12.6% respectively.
Industry’s Asset Quality
Asset quality of the banking industry worsened marginally as collectively, banks’ non-performing loans increased from 14.8% at end-2020 to 15.2% at end-2021.
The slight worsening or deterioration in the NPLs of banks in the country, reflects a marginal rise in loan repayment defaults by debtors.
The lingering impact of the Covid pandemic could be the reason for the loan repayment defaults by debtors.
Capital Adequacy Ratio
The industry’s Capital Adequacy Ratio [CAR] as noted in the BoG’s report stands at 19.6%, a slight reduction of 0.2% when compared to the 19.6% CAR recorded at the end of 2020.
The 19.6% CAR is well above the apex bank’s 11% CAR regulatory requirement.
