FINANCIAL INTERMEDIATION IN GHANA: DO WE NEED ISLAMIC BANKING? - Tapa blanda

Financial intermediation provides the means by which funds are mobilised from within and outside an economy and reallocated to productive sectors. Financial intermediaries such as banks, insurance companies and microfinance institutions help to deepen the intermediation process. The level of economic activities, foreign direct investment inflows, savings culture of citizens and in some cases the religious belief of the people can influence the financial intermediation process significantly. Gini and Herfindahl indices have shown downward trend ,indicative of improved competition in the Ghanaian banking industry, hence deepening the financial intermediation process.The monetary and fiscal policies of Ghana as well as general improvement in economic activities and increase credit to the private sector are signs of improved financial intermediation process in Ghana.The enactment of the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority Law to revolutionalise the development trajectory of the three northern regions of Ghana is also significant.The question that should provoke national discourse is whether Islamic banking is needed to further deepen the process?

John G. Gatsi lectures Finance at the School of Business,University of Cape Coast.He holds MSc Finance, MSc InternationalAccounting,and MBA . He is a chartered economist and member of the Institute of Directors-Ghana. He is currently a Doctoral Student at the Swiss Management Center University, Switzerland. Email: nyagart@yahoo.com