Such a move, according to the NBSSI, was necessary to help breed competition among the country's financial institutions and thus lower lending rates "for most micro, small and medium enterprises to have access to financial services.”
The Director of NBSSI in charge of Administration and Human Resource, Mr John Agbenorko, made the call when he called at the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL) to share the board's view on the recent story published in the GRAPHIC BUSINESS of March 29, 2011 headlined "CID, BoG in a 'tango' over licensing of money lenders."
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| Arthur Amissah is Governor of the BoG |
He said the board was of the view that while monitoring mechanisms were required to enable the lenders operate effectively and efficiency "it was strategically important to encourage their proliferation across the country."
"MSMEs form a bulk and constitute a critical driving force of the national economy", Mr Agbenorko observed, adding that "easy access to cheaper credit would help them survive and grow to generate employment and wealth towards strengthening the economy."
The GRAPHIC BUSINESS last week reported of how the CID was still in the business of licensing money lenders in the country "to fill a void" created by the inability of the mandated body, the Bank of Ghana to carry out that function under the Money Lenders Act, 2008, Act 774.
That, he described, as a healthy complementary role and noted that the NBSSIs "wished the parties involved viewed it as such."
Barely a week after the publication of the story, the BoG has initiated moves to formulate guidelines towards the full regulation of the microfinance sector under which the money lenders fall.
Mr Agbenorko said such a move was "gratifying" but "care should be taken not to stifle the springing up of the money lenders."
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