Falling profits :  Banks will end 2015 terribly- Zenith Bank MD

Banking in the country will not be able to replicate their averagely successful performance in the first half of the year.

Most banks, with the exception of  UT Bank and a few others, declared strong profits in the first half of 2015. This was positive news for most players in the banking sector looking at the economic challenges in the country in the first half of the year.

The Ghanaian economy in the first half of 2015, felt the full rigour of a rather protracted energy crisis and a volatile currency.

For the second half of the year however, there is little optimism that banks will replicate their financial success in the first half of the year.

According  to MD of   Zenith Bank Ghana     Daniel Asiedu, the economic challenges are gradually becoming unbearable for banks operating in the country.

Speaking to the media at the bank's tenth anniversary health walk, the managing director expressed pessimism about how banks will end the year

" Truth is that it has been a challenging year not only for banks by all players in  the economy. For us the 1st half of the year was normal. But the second half of the year presents a bigger challenge for the industry. Liquidity has been very tight. And I will not be surprised if most banks end the year with results that will not be near what we did last year."

Mr. Daniel Asiedu blamed the bad prospects on government's shrinking spending abilities, which has deprived businesses of cashflow.

" Government is the biggest spender in the economy. And when government is not spending , business don't get contracts and corresponding cash flow. We the banks only intermediaries who take surplus cash from where there's surplus to places of the economy where there is deficit."

Meanwhile, banking stocks have been performing poorly  in 2015, with UT Bank recording the largest fall in stocks on the Stock exchange with a percentage fall of 60 percent.