ADB, Stanbic merger must benefit farmers- J.H. Mensah

J.H. Mensah (fin)
Story: Boahene Asamoah


THE Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission, Mr J.H. Mensah has said that any arrangement or instrument that would ensure that farmers benefited under the proposed merger between Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) and the Stanbic Bank, should be pursued.
He said the argument of the proposed merger should be that of “an instrument providing for the welfare of farmers”, adding “that ADB is not an instrument for the staff and management’s welfare”.
He cautioned the country to take a lesson from the defunct Ghana Airways, where, he said, was the airline was used as a welfare for management and staff in which the country was saddled with a huge loss of $670 million.
Stanbic Bank, a subsidiary of Standard Bank of South Africa, one of the biggest banks in Africa, has launched a bid to take-over the shares of Bank of Ghana, which has 49 per cent shares in the bank.
However, unionised staff and some civil society groups have also launched its opposition to the bid for the merger with Standard Bank, citing fears of the bank’s losing its support for the agricultural sector and also loss of jobs.
Mr Mensah who made this known at the opening of a two-day Bank of Ghana Golden Jubilee Anniversary Symposium in Accra yesterday said “the argument is not about the intended beneficiaries in the proposed take-over” adding the “argument should be the instrument for providing for the welfare of farmers” and further urged the Bank of Ghana to go ahead with any arrangement that would ensure the welfare of farmers in the country.
The symposium which forms part of the 50 years celebration of the Bank of Ghana is on the theme “50 years of Central Banking and the Millennium Development Goals”.
On the performance of the central bank in the country over the past 50 years, Mr Mensah said the Bank of Ghana had played a crucial role in the various turning points in the country’s history and said the challenge now was how to fashion out a programme to ensure the achievement of the MDGs by 2015.
“This economy has to move more faster than it should and begin to leap”, he stated adding that BoG has a play a critical role in facilitating the envisaged growth and development.
The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu stated that the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 called for an accelerated growth and the adoption of pro-poor policies.
He said the country over the past six years had achieved the remarkable stability needed for economic growth and development.
The Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Paul Acquah, said the process of accelerated growth posed a great challenge to all, especially in developing countries such as Ghana.
That, he said stemmed from rising expectations as a result of significant structural reforms and dis-inflation among other policies.
He said the Bank of Ghana had chosen inflation targeting as the core of its monetary policies and was committed to it.
Dr Acquah said the symposium would discuss issues of monetary policy, financial markets, mutual funds, global competitiveness and accelerating growth strategies and business environment.