Bank of Ghana
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| Headquarters | Accra, Greater Accra, Ghana | ||
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| Established | 1957 | ||
| Ownership | Government of Ghana | ||
| Central bank of | Ghana | ||
| Currency |
Ghana cedi GHS (ISO 4217) |
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| Website | www |
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The Bank of Ghana (BoG) is the central bank of Ghana. It is located in Accra and was formed in 1957. The bank is active in developing financial inclusion policy and is a member of the Alliance for Financial Inclusion . On 2 March 2012, during an African regional conference on Mobile Financial Services held in Zanzibar, the Bank of Ghana announced it would be making specific commitments to financial inclusion under the Maya Declaration.
The Central Bank of Ghana traces its roots to the Bank of the Gold Coast (BGC) or Ghana Commercial Bank, where it was nurtured. As soon as local politicians and economists saw political independence in sight in the mid-1950s the agitation for a central bank was revived. It was argued that a central bank was one institution which would give true meaning to political independence. It may be recalled that way back in 1947 some leading politicians had called for the establishment of a national bank with central bank functions to act as banker to government and to cater for the indigenous sector of the economy.
Proposals of the advocates for a central bank were accepted and in early 1955 another Select Committee was set up by the Government to take a new look at the Trevor Report and prepare the grounds for the establishment of a central bank in Ghana. Fortunately, the BGC had already set the stage for central banking: all that was needed was specially trained personnel in central banking and suitable accommodation for the bank to take off.
By the end of 1956, all was set for the establishment of the Bank of Ghana. A new and modern five-storey building had been put up on the High Street, adjacent to the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to house both the Bank of Ghana and the Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB).
The first governor of the bank was Mr. Alfred Eggleston, the former Managing Director of BGC and an accomplished Scottish banker on secondment to Ghana from the Imperial Bank of India. His Deputy Governor was one Mr. Douglas F. Stone, another renowned British central banker also on secondment from Bank of England.
The general administration of the bank was entrusted in the hands of a seven-member board of directors under the chairmanship of the governor.
The first Board was as follows:
The Governor of the Bank and his Deputy were appointed by the Governor of the Gold Coast on the recommendation of the Prime Minister, in accordance with Section 10(1) of the 1957 Ordinance. The Governor and his Deputy were each appointed for a term of five years and were eligible for reappointment. Those two officials were answerable to the Board for their acts and decisions in the course of general administration of the affairs of the bank. The Board itself was also answerable to the Ministry of Finance for efficient management of the Bank. The other directors of the Board were also appointed by the Prime Minister with the approval of the Governor of the Gold Coast for a term of three years, subject to renewal.
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Wikipedia