Bank of Ghana In Critical Care: Minority insists 2025 real loss is GHC44bn, not GHC15.6bn

Parliament’s Minority Caucus has labeled the Bank of Ghana (BoG) as “policy insolvent,” pointing to what it calls troubling findings in the central bank’s audited financial statements for 2025.

At a press conference in Parliament, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the Ranking Member on the Economy and Development Committee, explained that a close examination of the 136-page report confirms long-held doubts about the sustainability of the BoG’s monetary operations.

“We went through the accounts line by line,” he said, adding that the aim was not to celebrate being right but to lay out the “true picture” of the central bank’s finances and challenge what the Minority sees as inconsistencies in the government’s messaging.

Dispute Over Premature Disclosure

The Minority’s remarks followed a separate press conference by the Majority, during which Atta Issah defended the BoG’s losses as a necessary price for economic stabilization.

The Minority, however, condemned that approach as a violation of proper procedure. Under the Bank of Ghana Act, they argued, audited accounts must first go to the Finance Minister and then be presented to Parliament not aired through partisan press briefings.

“Bank of Ghana is not a political party, and its accounts must not be turned into a party press release,” Mr. Oppong Nkrumah warned, adding that such practices risk eroding the central bank’s independence and credibility.

What ‘Policy Insolvency’ Means, According to the Minority

The Minority defines policy solvency as the ability of a central bank to fund its monetary operations especially liquidity management using income generated from its own activities.

While the BoG reported operating income of GH¢22.2 billion and open market operation (OMO) expenses of GH¢16.7 billion, yielding an apparent surplus of GH¢5.5 billion, the Minority says that figure is deceptive.

That income includes a one-off gain of roughly GH¢9.6 billion from gold sales, which should not be counted as recurring operational revenue.

“Take away the gold sale proceeds, and operating income falls to about GH¢12.7 billion,” Mr. Oppong Nkrumah explained. “Deduct the GH¢16.7 billion in OMO costs, and you are left with a deficit of about GH¢4 billion.”

According to the minority caucus, this deficit renders the central bank unable to sustain its core policy functions, hence the declaration of policy insolvency. “A central bank that has to sell strategic assets to stay afloat is not solvent. It is living on borrowed time,” he cautioned.

Challenging the GH¢15.6 Billion Loss Narrative

The Minority also disputed the widely cited GH¢15.6 billion loss, arguing that the true financial damage is much larger. They drew attention to an extra GH¢19.3 billion recorded under Other Comprehensive Income (OCI), bringing the total loss to about GH¢34.9 billion. After factoring out the gold sale proceeds, they estimate the underlying loss could reach GH¢44 billion.

“This is the loss that has been hidden from Ghanaians,” the caucus claimed, accusing the government of using accounting methods to minimize the perceived scale of the problem.

Concerns Over Accounting Standards

The Minority further raised questions about the accounting framework used in preparing the statements. The accounts were based on the Bank’s own internal policies rather than full International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)—a point noted by auditors and acknowledged by the BoG’s directors.

This approach, the Minority contends, allowed major losses especially those tied to exchange rate valuations to be parked in OCI rather than the main income statement, thereby reducing the headline loss.

Reversal of a Recovery Trend

The caucus also highlighted what it called a backslide after recent improvements: 2023 loss: GH¢13.23 billion, 2024 loss: GH¢9.49 billion and 2025 loss: GH¢15.63 billion

According to the Minority, the central bank had been on a recovery path in 2024, with shrinking losses and improving equity. That trend has now reversed: losses are up again, and negative equity has worsened to around GH¢93.8 billion. “The central bank was healing. Now it is getting worse,” Mr. Oppong Nkrumah said.

Policy Choices Blamed for Rising Costs

The Minority attributed the deterioration to several policy reversals, including the removal of a dynamic cash reserve system that had managed liquidity at lower cost, changes to foreign currency reserve requirements for banks, and adjustments to the gold purchase program that shifted costs back onto the Bank.

These decisions, they argue, drove up sterilization expenses, with the BoG paying commercial banks over GH¢14 billion in interest on its instruments.

Impact on the Public

Beyond the numbers, the Minority argued that current policies have yet to improve living conditions for Ghanaians. They pointed to tight liquidity, restricted credit access for businesses, a high cost of living, and rising youth unemployment as signs that macroeconomic stability has not translated into tangible benefits.

“Stability of numbers is not the same as stability of livelihoods,” the caucus stressed.

Call for Immediate Reforms

Despite the sharp critique, the Minority said its goal is to push for corrective measures, not political point-scoring.

“There is no triumph in being right when your country is bleeding,” Mr. Oppong Nkrumah stated, announcing that the caucus would soon propose alternative policies to restore the Bank’s financial health.

The declaration that the Bank of Ghana is “policy insolvent” represents one of the Minority’s strongest statements to date and is likely to fuel an intense national debate over the central bank’s independence, its role, and the long-term viability of current economic policies.