Republic Bank says that it supports the decision by the Ghana government to initiate discussions with the IMF, as the West African nation grapples with a double-digit fiscal deficit, a depreciating current and rising inflation.
Republic, T&T's largest bank, owns a 40 per cent stake in Ghana's HFC Bank and is facing a legal challenge to its attempt to increase its stake in the bank to a 51 per cent majority.
On Friday, Ghana's President John Mahama directed the government there to start discussions with the IMF on a programme to help stabilise the economy and halt a slide in the cedi currency, officials said on Saturday.
Mahama told a meeting of his economic advisors that urgent measures should be taken to prop up the cedi, which has fallen by around 40 percent against the US dollar this year, placing it among the world's worst performing currencies, according to a Reuters report.
In an e-mail Wednesday from Accra, the capital of Ghana, Republic Bank's executive director, Nigel Baptiste said: "We are in support of any measures aimed at fostering the long term stability of the countries in which we operate. Stabilization of the cedi and fiscal reform are surely two priority matters for them. IMF support usually also helps in facilitating foreign direct investment which is also a positive."
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