The Bank of Ghana is urging banks struggling to meet new capital requirements to submit merger plans for consideration before the Dec. 31 deadline, Joy Online reported June 1.
The bank's governor, Ernest Yedu Addison, said at a meeting in South Korea that banks "that are not able to raise that capital should come together in the form of mergers." The central bank has more than tripled the required minimum capital, to 400 million Ghanaian cedis from 120 million cedis.
He reportedly added that the deadline for recapitalization will not be extended, but that mergers would not necessarily have to be finalized by year-end.
As of May 31, US$1 was equivalent to 4.73 Ghanaian cedis.
