MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Bank of Ghana Doubles Minimum Capital Requirement for Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) to $610k As of 2018

The Bank of Ghana (BoG), which serves as the country’s central bank and is mandated to license, regulate and supervise financial institutions, reportedly announced that it has revised the minimum capital requirement for microfinance institutions (MFIs) from GHS 1 million (approximately USD 305,000) to GHS 2 million (approximately USD 610,000). Deposit-taking MFIs are required to comply with the new regulation by June 2018 while the deadline for non-deposit taking MFIs is December 2018. The MFIs that fail to comply with these requirements shall have their operating licenses revoked [1].

As of year-end 2014, BoG has total assets of GHS 51.4 billion (USD 15.6 billion).

As was reported by MicroCapital previously, BoG increased the minimum capital requirement for MFIs from GHS 100,000 (approximately USD 31,000) to GHS 500,000 (approximately USD 153,000) in July 2013 and from GHS 500,000 (approximately USD 153,000) to GHS 1 million (approximately USD 305,000) in March 2015.

By Victor Mugo, Research Associate.

 

About Bank of Ghana (BoG)

Established in 1957, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) has regulatory and supervisory authority over banking and financial institutions in Ghana, including rural and community banks, savings and loan companies, credit unions and non-bank financial institutions. The mandate of BoG is to “maintain stability in the general level of prices, to ensure efficient operations of the banking and credit systems, and to support general economic growth.” BoG uses monetary and fiscal policies to achieve its mandate, acts as a banker and financial adviser to the government and performs annual on-site audits of the microfinance institutions within its purview through its Other Financial Institutions Supervisory Department. As of year-end 2014, BoG has total assets of GHS 51.4 billion (USD 15.6 billion).

Sources and additional resources.

[1] Star Fm Online: Minimum capital for Ghana’s microfinance hits Gh¢2m
http://m.starrfmonline.com/1.5026122

[2] Bank of Ghana website
http://www.bog.gov.gh/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2194:rural-banks-and-microfinance-institutions-revision-of-the-minimum-paid-up-capital&catid=107:public-notices&Itemid=244

[3] MicroCapital Universe Profile: Bank of Ghana (BoG)
https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=bank+of+ghana

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