Banking sector reforms ignored human impact – Mahama
President John Dramani Mahama has criticized the former leadership of the Bank of Ghana for its handling of the banking sector clean-up exercise, arguing that the approach neglected the human impact of the decisions made during that period.
The Bank of Ghana’s controversial banking sector clean-up exercise saw the closure of several financial institutions with the previous government defending the decision as a move to rescue Ghana’s banking system from collapse.
In his address at the swearing-in ceremony of the New Governor and Deputy governor of the Bank of Ghana, on Tuesday, February 25, John Mahama expressed his concern that the decisions made under the banking sector reforms led to severe consequences for individuals and families.
“During the supposed banking sector clean-up exercise, the Bank of Ghana had the opportunity to salvage some institutions to protect livelihoods while ensuring stability, but instead, an approach that ignored human consequences prevailed.
“Thousands of jobs were lost and lives disrupted because decisions were made with a narrow focus rather than considerations of the human impact,” Mahama said.
The President charged the Bank of Ghana’s new leadership to extend beyond technical expertise and urged them to consider the human aspects behind the financial statistics.
“Mr. Governor and Deputy Governor, in discharging your mandate, you must go beyond mere technical considerations and act in full recognition that every statistic, every movement on a chart, and every shift in an index is more than just data.
“It is the pulse of an economy, a measure of resilience or distress. Behind numbers are real human stories, dreams either nurtured or shattered, demanding not just your highly extolled analytical expertise, but empathy and foresight that acknowledge the profound human consequences of every decision,” he added.
