The Chairman of Parliament’s Economic Committee and Member of Parliament for Amenfi West, Eric Afful, has urged the public to avoid judging the financial performance of the Bank of Ghana by the standards used for commercial banks.
Speaking at a press conference in Accra on Tuesday, May 5, Mr Afful acknowledged the Bank’s reported net loss of GH¢15.6 billion for the 2025 financial year. He also cited an additional comprehensive income charge of GH¢19.32 billion and a negative equity position of GH¢96.3 billion, but stressed that these figures must be understood within the broader role of a central bank.
“While these numbers are significant, they should not be viewed through the narrow lens of commercial banking. Central banking is essentially a public policy function, and its financial outcomes often reflect the cost of stabilising the economy,” he said.
Mr Afful noted that a proper assessment of the 2025 results requires looking back at the period between 2022 and 2024, when the Bank recorded cumulative losses of about GH¢80.85 billion. He broke this down as GH¢60.81 billion in 2022, GH¢10.55 billion in 2023, and GH¢9.49 billion in 2024—years he described as among the most challenging in Ghana’s economic history.
During that period, inflation peaked at 54.13 percent in 2022 before easing to 23.84 percent by the end of 2024. The Ghana cedi also saw significant depreciation, trading at around GH¢17 to the US dollar by December 2024, representing a decline of nearly 19.7 percent. Gross international reserves stood at about $9.3 billion in 2024, covering roughly four months of imports. The Bank’s equity position, meanwhile, fell to negative GH¢64.34 billion in 2023 before improving slightly to negative GH¢61 billion in 2024.
Against this backdrop, Mr Afful said the 2025 outcome should be seen as part of a deliberate policy effort to restore stability.
“In 2025, the Bank’s balance sheet reflected a negative equity position of about GH¢96 billion. However, macroeconomic indicators point to a strong and decisive turnaround,” he stated.
He highlighted a sharp drop in inflation to 5.2 percent by the end of 2025, further declining to 3.2 percent by March 2026. The cedi also strengthened significantly, appreciating by about 40.7 percent against the US dollar and other major currencies.
Gross international reserves, he added, increased to approximately $13 billion, providing about 5.7 months of import cover. He also referenced the Ghana Accelerated National Reserve Accumulation Programme (2026–2028), which aims to build reserves to cover up to 15 months of imports.
Mr Afful emphasised that the Bank’s financial performance should be viewed as part of a broader strategy to stabilise the economy and reinforce Ghana’s macroeconomic fundamentals, rather than in isolation.