The Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr Johnson Pandit Asiama, has called for stronger mobilisation of local and diaspora savings into long-term investments to finance productive economic activities and deepen Ghana’s debt capital market.
He said channeling more domestic and diaspora savings into the debt market would provide sustainable financing for businesses, infrastructure and other productive sectors while creating longer-term investment opportunities for savers.
Dr Asiama made the call on Thursday when he delivered the keynote address at Fidelity Bank’s Debt Capital Market Conference in Accra, where he outlined three critical transformations needed to build a deeper and more resilient domestic debt capital market.
According to the Governor, Ghana’s progress in restoring macroeconomic stability has created an opportunity to strengthen the domestic capital market and move it beyond its traditional concentration on government securities.
He noted that renewed confidence in the government securities market was already reflected in the reopening of the domestic bond market, declining Treasury bill yields and increased participation by institutional investors.
Dr Asiama said the developments should now be leveraged to build a more diversified debt market capable of mobilising capital for productive sectors of the economy.
He identified greater diversification of issuers and financial instruments as the first critical transformation. This, he said, would give investors a broader range of investment opportunities while enabling businesses and other institutions to access longer-term funding.
The second transformation, he said, was the greater deployment of technology to improve efficiency, transparency and accessibility within the debt capital market.
The third was stronger mobilisation of domestic and diaspora savings into long-term investments capable of supporting productive economic activities.
Dr Asiama stressed that the success of Ghana’s debt capital market should ultimately be measured not merely by the volume of securities traded or issued, but by its impact on the real economy and the lives of citizens.
“The proof of a deeper debt capital market will not be found only on an auction sheet. It will be found in the power project that was completed, the factory that expanded, the housing development that was financed, and the SME that finds room on a bank’s balance sheet because the right capital reached the right use,” he said.
A deeper domestic debt market, the Governor noted, could provide companies, financial institutions and other eligible issuers with alternatives to traditional bank financing, while enabling investors to channel savings into longer-term productive investments.
He reaffirmed the Bank of Ghana’s commitment to strengthening market infrastructure, restoring and maintaining investor confidence, and enhancing the resilience of the financial sector as Ghana consolidates its economic recovery.
The call comes as Ghana seeks to develop sustainable sources of financing for businesses and infrastructure and broaden the role of the domestic capital market in supporting long-term economic growth.
Ghana|Atinkaonline.com| Ebenezer Asare-Addo (Asare-Bediako Addo)
