Banks record profit in the first half of 2019 after banking sector reforms, Bank of Ghana report discloses

Bank of Ghana said Banks madeb profits for the first half of 2019.
This according to the bank was due to the sectors reforms done recently.
The industry’s profit after tax for the year-on-year growth was 36.3%

The report which captures the performance of banks for the first half of 2019 said the profitability indicators of the banking sector improved during the first half of 2019 compared with the same period last year.

Industry profit after tax

The industry recorded profit after tax of GH¢1.67 billion, representing year-on-year growth of 36.3% compared with 21.7% in the same period last year.

This development the BoG explained was underpinned by higher growth of net interest income which grew by 20.7% reflecting both higher interest income from investments and lower interest expenses from reduced borrowings.

Income from Net fees and Commissions

Also, income from net fees and commissions grew by 3.7%, significantly below the 24.7% growth for the same period last year, attributable to the slowdown in the volume of off-balance sheet activities.

Overall operations

The report also revealed that banks’ overall operational expenses grew by 7.6%, which was higher than the prior year’s growth of 5.3% resulting from the sharp increase in staff cost to 30.8% growth from 5.6%t contraction the year before.

Operating expenses decline

Notwithstanding, other operating expenses declined by 11.4% in June 2019 from a growth of 16.3% a year ago, somewhat moderating the growth in operating expenses.