A Lecturer at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom, Prof. Sajid Chaudhry, says banks in Ghana are making a lot of profit and needed to be taxed more.
Addressing the media on the taxing of banks, Prof. Chaudhry said the big banks are making lots of profits, charging much on borrowers, but not paying enough to the depositors’ funds, therefore, the public must be compensated for that, which is not happening at the moment.
Revealing the big banks making lots of profits in Ghana namely Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB), Ecobank, Barclays, Fidelity, Standard Chartered and Stanbic banks, Prof. Chaudhry said in 2017 these six (6) banks recorded five billion Ghana cedis, representing 2.8 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Prof. Chaudhry, who is a co-author of a book, titled: “Taxing Banks Fairly,” with interest in financing, taxation and regulation of banks, urged the banks to refrain from short-term borrowing, and rather pursue long-term lending to contain any shocks that might come as a result of withdrawal of the depositors’ funds.
He also advised Banks to take risk but not too much and also lauded the Bank of Ghana (BoG) for its current decisions on some banks.
Mr Samuel Okudzeto, a Member of the Council of State, who chaired the function, underscored the need for the nation to have common grounds on certain national issues, instead of politicising every policy decision of a ruling government.
Story by: Mabel Adorkor Annang
