The much anticipated Women Development Bank (WDB) is expected to start operating by the end of the year, the Minister for Finance Dr Ato Baah Forson has assured.
According to him, the bank which is a campaign promise bythe National Democratic Congress (NDC) and President John Dramani Mahama, is designed to empower female entrepreneurs.
Prof Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, the current Vice President, at the launch of the NDC’s 2024 campaign manifesto on Saturday, August 24, said it is also to support small business owners by providing them with low-interest loans, financial education, and sustainable support.
“The women’s development bank is here to empower female entrepreneurs and small business owners by providing low-interest loans, financial education, and sustainable support,” she said during the launch of the NDC manifesto at Winneba.
Presenting the 2026 Mid-Year Review Budget in Parliament on Thursday, July 23, Dr Forson said it has been incorporated and ready to take off.
He said the Ministry has at the preparatory stage of the bank, deposited GHs400 million as capital requirement for licensing. He indicated that the amount has been put into an account at the Bank of Ghana (BoG) ahead of the formal operation.
“In fulfillment of the capital requirement for licensing, the Ministry of Finance has deposited an amount of GHs400 million into an account at the Bank of Ghana as the initial capital for the women development bank. The Women’s Development Bank is expected to commence full operations before the end of this year”, he said.
Meanwhile, the Minister has disputed the narrative that government and for that matter he as the sectoral head is not spending enough.
He said contrary to the narrative, they are spending except that they are doing so at the right places. The Minister said what is also true is that, they are spending what they have in the kitty, taking into consideration what the repercussion may look like in future.
Concluding his presentation, Dr Forson said “Mr. Speaker, nothing can be further from the truth. Far from standing still, we have been steadily and responsibly deploying resources guided by the simple but firm principle that we can only spend only what we have, and we spend it wisely and with the future of our nation in view”.
Moving further, Dr Forson in the spirit of transparency and accountability used the chance to enumerate some of the payments that have been done across the sectors as approved by Parliament in the 2026 budget statement, to buttress his point that they are spending at the right places.
He said, to compensate public sector workers, an amount of GHs48.8 billion for compensation of employees has been paid, including GHs4 billion as contribution to SSNIT and GHs2 billion as Tier 2 pension scheme.
He said as a result of Ghana’s debt obligation, an amount of GHs21.5 billion for interest has also been paid adding that an amount of GHs700 million for Euro Bond debt service and interest have also been paid to honor international debt obligation.
He added that, to restore confidence on financial systems, an amount of GHs10 billion for domestic bondholders has been paid.
Dr Forson also noted that, as moves to deepen fiscal decentralisation, an amount of GHs4.4 billion to the District Assembly’s Common Fund (DACF), representing the first two quarters of the year, has been paid adding that some GHs4.5 billion has been paid to keep the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) strong and vibrant.
He went further to announce payments made for initiatives and programmes such as that have been released for Ghana Medica Trust (Mahama Care), Ghana Education Trust Fund, Secondary Education Programme, the Road Maintenance Trust Fund, Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, Youth Employment Agency (YEA), Minerals Development Fund, Energy Sector, School Feeding Programme, LEAP among others.
By Gifty Boateng