Baffour Awuah Pegs Job Loosses After Banking Sector Clean-Up At 3,000

The employment and Labour Minister nominee, Ignatius Baffour Awuah says about 3,000 employees lost their jobs as a result of banking sector clean up. He made the disclosure when he faced Appointments Committee on Wednesday, February 17, 2021 for his vetting. The Member of Parliament for the Tamale North, Alhassan Suhuyini had asked the Minister designate to put figure

to the number of job losses financial exercise carried out in 2017 had caused. Ignatius Baffour Awuah replied suggesting that data available to him indicates that only that number of baking sector staff became redundant afterwards. The number of jobs lost as a result of the banking sector collapse was around vicinity of 3,000, he stated. However, Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu was

shocked at the response and thereby questioned the authenticity of the information provided. He put it to the nominee that the 3,000 estimated figure is probably more than the actual. The Minister to be insisted that although he did not immediately have the data readily available to him at the sitting, he said, I remember I have made a public statement on that but if memory serves

me right, it was around 3 thousand. The financial sector cleanup commenced by the Akufo Addo administration in August 2017 led to the collapse of the nine universal banks, 347 microfinance companies, 39 microcredit companies or money lenders, fifteen savings and loans companies, eight 8 finance house companies, and two non bank financial institutions. SEC also announced the

revocation of licenses of fifty three Fund Management Companies and the total estimated cost of the state’s fiscal intervention, excluding interest payments, from the 2017 to 2019 was pegged at GHS 16.4 billion. The collapse of the institutions left clients in distress as many of the customers have been struggling to retrieve their savings and investments. A number of workers in the affected financial institutions were also laid off as a result.