The Bank of Ghana is under pressure to license some financial institutions to they operate as banks in the country.

This was revealed by the Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah at the launch of OmniBank. He urged the BoG to give licenses to indigenous companies who meet the criteria to be a bank.

“Even though we have reached the thirty-second, let me use this opportunity to encourage the Bank of Ghana to license any Ghanaian entity that qualifies to run a commercial bank. Because if for nothing at all, they will create jobs and increase competition which will make the banks operate within their terms of the industry,” he said.

READ ALSO: BoG announces new foreign exchange rules

He said such a move will create more jobs for Ghanaians thereby reducing the unemployment rate in the country.

He said that Ghana is a safe business place for banks as well as many other businesses and asked that the industry takes advantage of all the available help the government has to offer.

READ ALSO: Amended list of DKM customers to be out this week

“I believe sincerely that Ghana has come of age and because we want to expand our economy we should encourage our brothers and sisters who have the ability to support the banking industry the opportunity to do so.”

The Central Bank has approved five banks this year bringing the total number of banks in the country to 32. The approved banks this year include OmniBank, Premium bank and Ghana Home Loans.

There have been calls from industry players for smaller banks to merge to help them expand their capital base to undertake high-budget projects.