Eric Afful (M)
The Majority in Parliament has moved to calm public anxiety over the financial position of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), insisting that the central bank’s negative equity does not signal insolvency but rather reflects the cost of stabilising the economy during a period of crisis.
Addressing a press conference in Parliament yesterday, Chairman of the Economy and Development Committee, Eric Afful, said the Bank’s 2025 financial results must be interpreted within a broader economic and policy context, rather than through the narrow lens used for commercial banks.
According to him, the central bank recorded a net loss of GH¢15.6 billion in 2025, alongside and other comprehensive income charge of GH¢19.32 billion, resulting in a negative equity position of GH¢96.3 billion.
While acknowledging the scale of the figures, he stressed that central banks are not profit-making institutions but stabilisation entities whose financial outcomes often mirror the cost of policy interventions.
“Negative equity in central banking is an accounting condition and does not imply insolvency,” he emphasised, adding that the Bank continues to effectively deliver on its core mandate of ensuring price stability, maintaining financial system stability, managing the national currency and safeguarding reserves.
Mr. Afful explained that the 2025 outcome must be viewed against cumulative losses of about GH¢80.85 billion recorded between 2022 and 2024, a period he linked to the previous New Patriotic Party administration and one of the most severe macroeconomic crises in recent history.
During that period, he stated that inflation peaked at over 54 percent in 2022, the cedi depreciated sharply, and reserves declined to about $9.3 billion.
He argued that the 2025 losses were the result of deliberate policy choices aimed at restoring stability, including the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme, which reduced interest income by an estimated GH¢13 billion, and aggressive open market operations that cost about GH¢16 billion to control inflation.
Additionally, he noted that the appreciation of the cedi and the central bank’s gold accumulation programme, though beneficial in strengthening reserves, generated accounting losses due to valuation effects.
The Majority maintained that these interventions are already yielding results, pointing to declining inflation, a stabilising currency, improved reserves now estimated at about $13 billion, and stronger economic growth, with GDP expanding by over six percent in 2025.
Drawing comparisons with global trends, Mr. Afful said major central banks, including the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve, have also recorded losses during periods of aggressive monetary tightening.
He indicated that the financial pressures on the Bank are expected to ease as liquidity conditions normalise and policy costs decline.
He also reaffirmed government’s commitment to recapitalising the central bank to strengthen its balance sheet over the medium term.
The Majority urged the media and the public to focus on the broader macroeconomic outcomes rather than headline losses, insisting that the Bank’s balance sheet reflects “the cost of restoring stability, rebuilding confidence, and securing the future of Ghana’s economy.”
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House