Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam
The Ranking Member on Parliament’s Finance Committee, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, has raised concerns over the financial position of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), warning that its 2025 audited accounts pose significant risks to the country’s macroeconomic stability, fiscal outlook and post-IMF programme credibility.
In a formal letter addressed to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Mission Chief in Washington D.C., Dr. Amin Adam cautioned that the central bank’s worsening balance sheet could create substantial fiscal burdens for the government if not urgently addressed.
He noted that the Bank’s negative equity deepened sharply in 2025, rising to about GH¢96.28 billion from GH¢61.32 billion in 2024, indicating that meaningful balance sheet repair has yet to begin.
According to him, this effectively represents a deferred fiscal cost that could translate into increased public debt if the government is required to recapitalise the Bank.
The former Finance Minister further pointed out that the Bank recorded a loss of GH¢15.63 billion in 2025, higher than the GH¢9.49 billion loss in 2024, despite an increase in operating income.
He attributed this deterioration to persistently high costs, particularly from open market operations, exchange rate losses, revaluation adjustments and gold-related transactions.
Dr. Amin Adam stressed that the full impact of the Bank’s financial position is even more severe when assessed using comprehensive income, revealing a total comprehensive loss of nearly GH¢35 billion in 2025.
A major concern highlighted in the letter is the rising cost of monetary policy implementation. It noted that open market operation (OMO) costs nearly doubled from GH¢8.6 billion in 2024 to GH¢16.73 billion in 2025, accounting for about 75 percent of the Bank’s operating income.
He warned that such high quasi-fiscal costs could undermine both monetary policy effectiveness and fiscal consolidation efforts.
The letter also questioned the sustainability of the Bank’s reported policy solvency position, arguing that it was significantly supported by one-off gains from gold sales. Without these gains, he suggested, the underlying position could be weaker or even negative.
Additionally, Dr. Amin Adam raised transparency concerns over gold-related transactions, noting that while the Bank recorded gains of about GH¢9.57 billion from gold sales, it also reported substantial losses and rising gold-related liabilities, pointing to potential volatility and fiscal risks.
He further warned that the sharp decline in the Bank’s revaluation reserves reflects heightened exposure to exchange rate fluctuations, which continue to weaken its capital position.
On the broader economy, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP for Karaga cautioned that continued central bank losses and recapitalisation needs could crowd out critical government spending on infrastructure, health, education and social programmes, especially as Ghana exits its IMF-supported Extended Credit Facility programme.
To address these challenges, he urged the IMF to push for a transparent and structured recapitalisation plan for the Bank of Ghana, stronger disclosure of quasi-fiscal operations, and improved fiscal risk reporting.
Dr. Amin Adam also called for stricter safeguards against monetary financing of the government and recommended an independent review of certain accounting treatments within the Bank’s financial statements.
By Ernest Kofi Adu