Ghana's Central Bank Records Nearly US$3.11 Bln annual Loss

ACCRA, May 6 (Bernama-Xinhua) -- Ghana's central bank on Tuesday disclosed that it had recorded an annual loss of 34.95 billion Ghana cedis (about US$3.11 billion) in its overall operations for the year ending Dec 31, 2025, reported Xinhua.

In a statement, the bank said its annual financial report, released earlier, indicates a total operating loss of 15.63 billion cedis and other comprehensive income (OCI) losses of 19.32 billion cedis for 2025.

The Bank of Ghana said its negative equity also moved from 61.32 billion cedis at the start of the year to 96.28 billion at the end of 2025.

“The operating loss is primarily driven by the cost of open market operations, used to absorb excess cedi liquidity, and the cost of the Domestic Gold Purchase Program which built Ghana's reserves. The OCI loss reflects the impact of the cedi's appreciation on the cedi-equivalent value of the bank's foreign-currency reserve assets," the statement added.

The numbers in the statement show how the policy actions led to economic stability in the country, rather than indicating a cash loss, a decrease in reserves, or problems within the institution.

The results of these operations include the fall of inflation from 23.8 per cent at the end of December 2024 to 5.4 per cent at the end of December 2025 and to 3.2 percent by March 2026. The cedi appreciated by 40.7 per cent against the US dollar. Gross International Reserves increased significantly, from US$9.11 billion to US$13.83 billion, the bank stated.

Moreover, it said operations by the central bank also caused a reduction in public debt from 61.8 per cent to 45.3 per cent of gross domestic product, while real private sector credit growth strengthened from a negative position in 2024 to a positive 13.1 per cent in December 2025 and up to 19.93 per cent by March 2026.

"The financial cost is reflected on the bank's balance sheet, while the benefits of the policy actions are seen in lower inflation, a more stable currency, and improved credit conditions," the bank added.

The central bank made a loss of 60.8 billion cedis with a negative equity of about 55.1 billion cedis in 2022. In 2023 and 2024, the bank incurred additional losses of 10.50 billion cedis and 9.49 billion cedis, respectively, while negative equity reached 61.32 billion cedis by the end of 2024.

In addition to those losses, there was high inflation and a volatile foreign exchange regime that caused the local currency to depreciate by 30 per cent in 2022, 20 to 27 per cent in 2023, and 19 per cent in 2024. 

--BERNAMA-XINHUA