Anum (Eastern Region) 10 July 2000
The Bank of Ghana (BOG) is committed to the development and growth of efficient rural and community banks as an integral part of the banking system, Mr Emmanuel Asiedu-Mante, Head of Banking Supervision Department, said on Saturday.
He said the development and growth of these banks would translate into improved rural economies since the banks would mobilise funds and provide financing for small and medium-scale enterprises and projects.
In an address read for him at the 17th Shareholders Annual General Meeting of the Anum Rural Bank Limited at Anum, Mr Asiedu-Mante said despite the continuous efforts of the BOG to strengthen the operations and ensure the safety and soundness of rural and community banks at substantial financial cost, the conduct of some directors, staff and customers had plunged some banks into distress while others had shown signs of deteriorating performance.
"Henceforth, any rural/community bank which develops serious solvency and liquidity problems may no longer be allowed to continue in operation and will be liquidated and their licence withdrawn," he cautioned.
Mr Asiedu-Mante urged the board of directors to ensure that the Anum rural bank is run and operated in a manner that will guarantee its continued existence in the banking industry.
He said any rural bank wishing to operate an agency must first seek prior approval from the BOG, raise its minimum capital level to 30 million cedis, and get high calibre personnel to monitor and supervise the activities of the agencies and demonstrate the ability to meet prudential requirements.
Mr Asiedu-Mante said through constant supervision of operations, off-site surveillance, on-site examinations and follow-up exercises, most of the problems facing rural banks had been resolved.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 10 July 2000
A hurried 25-minute trading
session on the Ghana Stock Exchange on Monday saw traded shares sink to a
record low in recent times as the unimpressive run of the bourse continued.
Only a mere 3,100 shares changed
hands in the session brokers described as "the fastest on the floor in the
history of the Exchange".
Generally, the market was dull
with offers outstripping bids. However, the All-Share Index, the main stock
gauge, went up 1.76 points on the strength of a 20-cedi gain by Ghana
Commercial Bank (GCB) to continue the string of impressive performances since
Wednesday.
On the broader market, there was
only one price change - a 20-cedi gain by GCB, which closed trading at 1,000
cedis.
Two equities - Accra Brewery
Limited (ABL) and Camelot (CLMT) - had positive pressure on them while five
equities had no pressure at all.
The remaining 15 equities returned
negative pressure.
Market capitalisation was up
marginally at 3,573.04 billion cedis from 3,569.74 billion while the change for
the year to date shot up 0.24 per cent to stand at 11.57 per cent.
Offers were lower at 2.1 million,
down from 2.2 million while bids slumped from 96,400 to 85,000.
Brokers said the large offers
reflect the attitude of investors who would want to get out of the market and
invest particularly in Treasury Bills.
They said this heightens fears of
a fall in the share prices of most equities on the exchange, adding that once
demand exceeds supply, prices would find their levels.
Only five equities traded mere
3,100 shares. There were bids in seven equities with the highest of 79,300
coming from ABL. It, however, did not sell any shares.
Below are the closing prices of
listed equities in cedis:
ABL 540
AGC 18,600
ALW 2,600
BAT 440
CFAO 38
EIC 1,880
FML 1,200
GBL 1,400
GCB 1,000 +20
GGL 990
HFC 950
MGL 200
MLC 150
MOGL 17,500
PAF 300
PBC 520
PZ 800
SCB 22,000
SPPC 150
SSB 1,990
UNIL 1,845
UTCE 125
CMLT 425
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