The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has called on commercial banks operating in the country to reduce their lending rates, taking into account the recent decline in inflation rates.
According to the Ghana Statistical Service, the inflation rate for April 2023 was 41.2 percent, down from the previous month’s rate of 45 percent.
Speaking at an event organized by Absa Bank in collaboration with the Mastercard Foundation to launch a loan scheme for small businesses at a 10 percent rate, Elsie Addo Awadzi, the Second Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, stated that this decline in national inflation indicates a positive trend in the domestic economy, with further development expected.
She pointed out that the decrease in inflation figures is a positive sign for Ghana’s domestic economy and predicted further progress in the future, as the macroeconomy improves and the economy recovers.
“As the economy picks up and there is a signal of improvement in the macroeconomy, we expect things to get better. Moments ago, before I got here, inflation had dropped to 41.2% for April [2023] from the about 50% some months ago.”
“We as a regulator and at the Monetary Policy Committee project that things will improve. The inflation rate will drop further and lending rates will come down. I, therefore, encourage you all as banks to emulate Absa Bank and bring the lending rates further down,” she added.
