The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta has said that banks in the country would be given an ultimatum of up to a year to meet the new minimum capital requirement when the recapitalisation announcement is made.

The Finance Minister said, “the increment would be significant and similar to what happened in Nigeria which forced a lot of banks in the country to merge.”

He quickly added that the government will be willing to help the local banks to recapitalize especially those it holds significant shares in them.

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The Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr Ernest Addison, had earlier said that the recapitalisation announcement will be made in the first week of September.

Currently, commercial banks in the country require $120 million as minimum capital before they can operate in the country.

Even though the day of the announcement is close, Ken Ofori Atta said the Bank of Ghana is yet to settle on the capital levels.

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It is still unclear the capital levels the Bank of Ghana would announce to the general public.

However, it is certain some banks would have to merge in order to survive in the sector.