In the final quarter of 2023, the value of loans made by financial institutions decreased by 54.9%.

Compared to GH¢13.2 billion in the same period of 2022, the total amount of secured loans registered by banks and Specialized Deposit-Taking Institutions (SDIs) was nearly GH¢5.9 billion.

The Bank of Ghana’s collateral registry quarterly brief for the fourth quarter of 2023 revealed this enormous decline of GH¢7 billion in secured loans by financial institutions.

Loan growth decreased in 2023 compared to the previous year, according to the data. This indicates bank portfolio reallocations.

In the fourth quarter of 2023, banks accounted for GH¢4.5 billion in total secured loans, down 63% from GH¢12 billion in the same period in 2022, according to the report.

Securing loans, on the other hand, totaled 1.4 billion cedis at specialized deposit-taking institutions, up 53% from 2022.

The largest percentage of secured loans overall was recorded by banks. Rural and community banks came next, then savings and loan associations.

Then came microfinance firms and Finance Houses, both of which saw a slight rise in their respective shares.

With a 43.3% percentage share in Q4:2023, the Commerce and Finance sector was the largest beneficiary of secured loans.

The manufacturing sector came in second with 11.7 percent, the services sector came in second with 20.0 percent, the mining and quarrying sector with 8.0 percent, and the construction sector with 6.1 percent.

Agriculture, forestry, and fishing (4.8%), transportation and haulage (2.3%), electricity, gas, and water (0.4%), information and communications (0.1%), and cottage industries (0.1%) were the industries with the lowest secured loan recipients.

In comparison to the same period in 2022, the Collateral Registry’s performance significantly improved in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Significant increases were observed in the volumes of collateral registration, discharges, and security interest realization, all of which point to a recovery in the use of the Registry’s services during the review period.

From a strategic standpoint, the Registry will keep raising public awareness of the necessity of searches as part of the bank, SDI, and other lender credit appraisal process.