The Group Board Chairman of Standard Chartered Bank, Jose Vinals, has expressed confidence in Ghana’s economic recovery measures.
He expressed the bank’s confidence in the rebound of Ghana’s economy on Thursday, June 29, 2023, when he visited Jubilee House to meet President Akufo-Addo.
He told the President that the visit was exclusively for Ghana, illustrating the bank’s strong commitment to the economic development of the country.
According to him, the visit was necessary at a time when the country was embarking on a journey to recover from the recent economic turmoil.
He stated that the bank’s continuous support for the Government of Ghana demonstrated its “confidence” in the future of the economy of the country.
“This confirmation of our support is also a vote of confidence in Ghana’s future. We are confident that, working hard in a joint manner between the government and the private sector, Ghana will be able to get out of this situation and embark on the growth path that it had before COVID-19 and the other crises that hit the country, the region, and the world.”
The Group Board Chairman told President Akufo-Addo that the bank saw tremendous opportunities in Ghana in the area of digitalisation, for instance. He said the bank would continue to invest in Ghana, adding that his outfit would soon launch a platform for the financing of micro, small, and medium enterprises for the purposes of transformation.
QUARTER STATISTICS
In the first quarter of 2023, Ghana’s economic growth increased to 4.2 % year-on year, compared to 3.0% in the same period of 2022.
The Government Statistician, Prof Samuel Annim, said recently that the public administration, defense and social security, health, education, information and communication sub-sectors were the main drivers of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth for the first quarter of 2023.
GDP growth rate without oil and gas (non-oil GDP) for first quarter of 2023 is 5.5%, which compares to the same period in 2022 with a growth rate of 3.7%.
The service sector recorded the highest growth of 10.1 % followed by the agriculture sector with a growth of 4.8% and the industry sector of -3.2 %.
EXEMPLARY
In his response, President Akufo-Addo commended the contributions of the bank to the economic growth of Ghana.
He mentioned that the reach of the bank and “the manner in which it has interacted with the government and the people of the country has been exemplary.”
President Akufo-Addo remarked that the issues raised by Mr. Jose Vinals were those at the heart of the government and the nation, and urged the bank to support the country.
He stated that the government was committed to the programme of digitalisation of the Ghanaian economy, adding that “our Vice President [Dr. Bawumia] has been very upfront.”
OPPORTUNITY
Responding to the commendation by the Standard Chartered Bank boss on the joint collaboration between the government and the private sector, President Akufo-Addo indicated that the government was committed to creating the enabling environment for the private sector to thrive.
He remarked that opportunities abound in every sphere of the nation and urged the bank to continue to invest further in the economy of the country.
