BoG urges commercial banks to cut lending rates as inflation figures drop

Commercial banks operating in Ghana have been urged by the Bank of Ghana to lower their lending rates while the country’s inflation figures are showing a decline.

According to the Ghana Statistical Service, the inflation rate for April 2023 was at 41.2 percent, a drop from the earlier recorded 45 percent in March 2023.

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 added that as the macroeconomy improves and the economy recovers, there is a likelihood of a better future.

“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.