Accra, Nov. 28, -Vice President
Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, says government would undertake digital registration of
land titles next year to boost the mortgage market.
He said the current mortgage
relative to income in the country was the highest in the world and noted that,
this would not help in developing sustainable mortgage market.
He noted that using property to
secure a loan was important to boost the economy, but there was difficulty in
authenticating property owners, therefore the digitisation of the land title
registration would help in that regard.
Vice President Bawumia made the
disclosure at the 21st National Banking Conference of the Chartered Institute
of Bankers in Accra on Tuesday on the theme: ‘‘Building a Robust and
Sustainable Banking System in Ghana’’.
The event afforded stakeholders
in the banking industry the opportunity to discuss the changing reforms in the
local and international economy in order to make them resilient and robust in
undertaking transactions as well as being responsive to the needs of their
clients.
It brought together top echelon
of the financial institutions in the country who shared their experiences and
ideas aimed at making them competitive and relevant in the changing banking
sector.
The Vice President said
government recognised that before the country could develop and remain
competitive on the global market, certain fundamental measures must be put in
place.
It is in this direction therefore
that government upon assumption of office, started rolling out digitisation
programmes such as the National Identification System, National Property
Addressing System, implementation of the paperless ports project, e-procurement
processes, digitisation of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority and
digitisation of other state institutions, to promote financial inclusion,
enhance efficiency and minimise corruption.
He said these were the building
blocks that would improve the country’s resource mobilisation and ensure
operational efficiency.
Dr Bawumia noted :‘‘We need to
have the soft infrastructure to support the banking industry and this is what
is driving the national ID card, digital addressing system and other digital
programmes so that we can trace customers, build a robust referencing regime
and these will be fundamental in reducing interest rate and strengthening the
stability of the banking system’’.
The Vice President gave the
assurance that, both government and the Central Bank would play their
respective roles of controlling and ensuring the stability of the fiscal
environment.
He therefore, urged banks to
develop innovative products that would rope in the informal sector of the
economy to ensure financial inclusiveness.
Dr Bawumia said: ‘‘Government is
pushing for the interoperability of the payment system between the telecommunication
companies and banks and hopefully by the middle of next year it will be
launched’’.
He noted that, government had
consolidated the macroeconomic environment with the Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) growth moving from 3.7 per cent in 2016 to 7.9 per cent as projected by
the close of the year.
He added that, the prudent
economic policies by government had reduced the inflation rate, Treasury bills,
monetary rate from 26 to 20 per cent and inflation rate from 15.4 to 11.6 per
cent respectively.
Reverend Mrs Patricia Sappor, the
President of the Chartered Institute of Bankers, in her welcome address, said
in view of the recent development in the banking industry, there was the need
for renewed emphasis on the recapitalisation of banks to increase their fiscal
capacity to transact bigger ticketing deals while mitigating the underlying
risk.
She said the banking industry had
significant role to play in building a robust and resilient economy to ensure
the maximisation of the shareholders’ value, protection of the depositors’ fund
and generating profits.
Mrs Sappor urged stakeholders to
act quickly to resolve the outstanding policy pieces and ensure financial
soundness and stability of the financial industry.
GNA
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