Finance and banking consultant, Dr. Richmond Atuahene, has praised the Minister for Finance, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, for what he describes as a professional and commendable approach to the recapitalization of the National Investment Bank (NIB).
In an exclusive interview with The High Street Journal, Dr. Atuahene said the Minister’s decision to inject capital into the struggling state-owned bank, rather than shut it down, reflects a bold departure from past approaches that prioritized collapse over rescue.
His comments follow the Finance Minister’s address during the 2025 Mid-Year Budget Review, in which he announced that the government is actively pursuing a comprehensive strategy to recapitalize NIB and reposition it as a viable development-oriented bank.
“From what I know about the issues at NIB, the Finance Minister has handled the matter professionally well. Instead of spending to collapse the bank, he has chosen to spend to save it, and save hundreds of jobs in the process,” Dr. Atuahene remarked.
According to Dr. Atuahene, the choice to preserve the bank rather than liquidate it underscores a mature understanding of institutional reform and economic stability.
For him, there were real issues with NIB, and collapsing it would have been the easy.
He notes that what we are witnessing is a Minister showing fiscal responsibility by protecting public assets and jobs while sending a strong signal of confidence to the financial sector.
NIB, one of Ghana’s last remaining state-owned banks, has been grappling with years of financial distress, worsened by governance lapses and non-performing loans. Yet, many analysts argue that its development mandate, particularly its focus on industrial financing, remains critical to Ghana’s long-term economic transformation.
As public interest in the future of the bank intensifies, it is expected that the recapitalization will calm nerves and assure stakeholders that the process is being handled with the professionalism and urgency it deserves.
