Credit to the private sector is recovering to the pre-pandemic levels, reflecting commercial banks’ portfolio rebalancing.

According to the Monetary Policy Report by the Bank of Ghana, private sector credit increased significantly by 33.7% in June 2022 in year-on-year terms, compared with 6.8% in the same period of 2021.

In spite of the sustained price pressures, private sector credit, in real terms, recorded a 3.0% growth. A year ago in June 2021, real private sector credit had contracted by 0.97%.

Meanwhile, the latest credit conditions survey of banks revealed tightened credit stance on loans to enterprises and households.

Notwithstanding these tight credit conditions across the industry, banks’ credit extension improved during the review period.

New advances to the economy broadened across the industry, with 20 out of 23 banks extending new credit.

Total new advances as of June 2022 was ¢24.6 billion (54.0% year-on-year growth), compared to ¢15.9 billion (1.0% growth) recorded for the same period of 2021.