This is not the time for financial institutions to be very aggressive and bullish on granting credit, Socrates Afram, the Deputy Managing Director of GCB Bank Plc in charge of Finance, has said.
That, he said, was because of the challenges the economy was going through.
“But in the midst of these challenges, there are pockets of opportunities, and it is up to us by working with our customers to find those opportunities and help so that we can all go through all these seamlessly without disturbing the stability of the bank,” he said, in an interview with the Ghanaian Times after the Ghana Club 100 Awards held on Friday in Accra.
He stressed that banks had to be cautious in granting credit in order not to disturb the market, saying “when things normalise we can come back and do greater works.”
The programme was organised by the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre to celebrate outstanding companies in the country.
It was on the theme “Ghana’s private sector – A catalyst for pandemic transformation.”
GCB Bank Plc emerged tenth in the rankings of the 100 companies which participated in the award, and led the banking and financial industry.
The bank was rewarded for its outstanding performance in growth, profitability, size and contribution to community development.
Quizzed what the award meant to GCB Bank Plc, Mr Afram said GCB Bank Plc was excited about the awards and not worried about the position.
“For us it is not so much about the position, but building a sustainable bank that can support Ghanaian businesses and individuals to achieve their financial objectives,” he said.
Mr Afram stressed, “So for us, the recognition of the fact that we have shown profit, we have grown, we are committed to corporate social responsibility, those are things that matter to us, so it is not much about the position, but what contribution we can make for businesses to thrive, and for our brothers who have completed universities to get jobs to do, and individuals who are working and have various needs we support them to meet their financial aspirations, that is what is most important to us.”
The Deputy Managing Director in charge of Finance, indicated that the objective of the bank was to build a sustainable bank to support businesses and the development of the country.
“For us, it is the question of sustainability. We are going through turbulent times as a nation, so as a bank our focus today is how we build a resilient bank that would survive and go beyond these turbulent times so that we can continue to play our part as the biggest financial institution to support Ghanaians to achieve their financial objectives,” he said.
Mr Afram said the GCB Bank Plc was established to support indigenous Ghanaian businesses with financial resources to be able to thrive in business.
“And so that mandate had not been lost on us. The key for us is that in this difficult times, can we still see opportunities, are there selected opportunities, are there businesses we can pick and choose and support,” he said.
BY KINGSLEY ASARE
