Collapsed Banks: ‘I take Responsibility But Can’t Be Blamed’ – Seth Terkper

Former Finance Minister Seth Terkper has accepted responsibility for the collapse of some seven indigenous banks in the country that has caused almost 2,000 job losses within a year.

Mr. Terkper however said he cannot be blamed for the financial mess that has shaken the foundation of the banking industry.

“I will take responsibility not the blame; you can do the blame game,” he told Johnny Hughes when he appeared on TV3 morning magazine show, New Day on Thursday to speak about the issue.

Seven indigenous banks have collapsed in the last year after the Bank of Ghana revoked their licence for being highly insolvent.

While the Ghana Commercial Bank took over the good assets of UT and Capital banks which collapsed in August 2017, five others whose collapsed were announced by BoG on August 1, 2018 have been consolidated to form the Consolidated Bank Ghana Limited.

They are Royal, Construction, Beige, UniBank and Sovereign banks

When asked Thursday whether he accepts blame for the collapse, Mr. Terkper responded negatively, contending that the government at the time took steps to prevent the crisis which has been squarely been blamed on the Bank of Ghana as well as the directors and the boards of the collapsed banks.

The former finance minister said through ESLA, the government paid a substantial amount of the VRA’s legacy debt, which he observed, weighed heavily on the banking sector at the time.

The debt, he said “exposed the banking sector to the possibility of systemic risk as the magnitude of the exposure weigh heavily on the assets quality of the banks”, adding that as at the end of December 2016, “$228.82 million [of the debt] had been paid”.

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