Majority Chief Whip, Frank Annoh-Dompreh, has offered to support the Minority in Parliament’s push to call on the central government to recapitalize the National Investment Bank (NIB) to aid in the development of Ghana’s industrial sector.
The core mandate of the NIB, he said, is to support Ghana’s industrial drive and therefore what the government should be encouraged and urged to do is to help in its recapitalization.
Annoh-Dompreh, while addressing the media in Parliament, voiced his concerns over various allegations made by the Minority against the NIB and urged his colleagues to avoid politicizing financial matters.
He stated, “If they don’t have the facts, they should be patient, investigate, and get all the information before they come.”
The Minority had previously accused the government and the Bank of Ghana (BoG) of plotting to sell the NIB to the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB). They argued that instead of the acquisition and liquidation of NIB, recapitalization should be the focus, citing a capitalization deficit of GH¢2.4 billion as the bank’s biggest challenge. Their analysis suggested that restructuring NIB’s balance sheet could generate over GH¢2.75 billion to address the deficit.
Annoh-Dompreh, however, pointed out that the NIB’s troubles began under the previous National Democratic Congress (NDC) government when a GH¢500 million loan was disbursed to non-financial institutions, which remains unrecovered.
He further revealed that the Minister of Finance had led efforts to raise GH¢800 million and injected an additional GH¢57 million into the bank’s operations to bolster its profits and activities.
The Majority Whip recognized the government’s efforts but stressed that due to challenges in the financial sector, the NIB still requires recapitalization and further support to remain relevant in the country’s industrial development.
He emphasized the need to avoid negative perceptions that could harm the bank’s reputation.
“So the least our colleagues can do is to at least be careful when commenting about a bank that is mandated by law to help shore up and develop our industry sector.”