By: Mustapha Jarju
Dr. Paul L. Mendy, 2nd Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of The Gambia (CBG) has said that the Gambian Banking system remains resilient and well capitalized, with a risk-weighted capital adequacy ratio of 24.8 percent in December 2022 which is higher than the regulatory threshold of 10 percent.
He made this disclosure recently at the College of Africa Bank Supervisors Conference, where he also said the Gambia`s banking system risk-weight capital adequacy ratio has declined from 5.2 percent in December 2021 to 4.6 in December 2022, noting the other critical financial soundness indicator is the liquidity ratio, stood at 63.7 percent as of December 2022.
“The above-prescribed standard of 30 percent, asset quality also remains impressive, with the non-performing loans ratio registering modest improvements. We recently tested our commercial bank connectivity to the platform with positive outcomes.
The collaborative efforts between the Gambia and the Pan African Payment Settlement System (PAPSS), with its mandate to transform our payment systems platforms and giving opportunities on ways to conduct trade among African countries and settlement of transactions,” he said.
2nd Governor Mendy added that the Central Bank of The Gambia remains committed to the implementation of the PAPSS platform, and challenges the African banks to boost intra-regional trade between African countries with payment effected through domestic currencies, while net settlement is in Dollars.
“The Central Bank of The Gambia is steadfast in its commitment to these ideals and will not relent until African financial systems are highly integrated to facilitate trade settlement of transactions between our countries,” he stated.
