The Bank of Ghana posted an operating loss of 15.6 billion cedis for 2025, up sharply from 9.4 billion cedis a year earlier, as the cost of monetary policy interventions surged, its audited financial statements showed on Friday.
The central bank’s negative equity widened to 93.82 billion cedis from 58.62 billion cedis in 2024, despite an increase in total assets to 237 billion cedis.
Details
The losses were driven largely by the rising cost of liquidity management operations. Open market operations nearly doubled to 16.7 billion cedis, while sterilisation liabilities to commercial banks jumped 186% to 93.6 billion cedis.
Income from government securities also fell significantly following the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme, with the central bank estimating more than 12 billion cedis in forgone interest income.
Cedi gains
Exchange rate movements compounded the losses. A near 40% appreciation of the cedi triggered a revaluation loss of 23.6 billion cedis on gold, Special Drawing Rights and foreign securities.
This, alongside a reclassification of gains on gold holdings, pushed total other comprehensive income to a loss of 19.9 billion cedis, compared with a gain of 13.8 billion cedis in 2024.
The central bank recorded a 9.57 billion cedi gain from the disposal of some gold reserves, helping to partially offset the overall loss.
Government deposits at the central bank declined to 12.1 billion cedis from 29.9 billion cedis, while outstanding bridge financing to the government dropped to zero, in line with a 2023 agreement to halt monetary financing of the budget.
Tighter monetary policy
Auditor KPMG said the central bank remained operational despite the losses, citing expectations of improving macroeconomic conditions.
“As inflation declines, interest rates are expected to ease, reducing the cost of open market operations,” the auditor said, adding that exchange rate stability would also help contain losses.
The central bank said it does not expect a repeat of the 2025 performance, projecting that tighter monetary policy, lower inflation and improved banking sector liquidity will reduce the need for costly interventions.
However, it warned that risks remain, including volatile global oil prices, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and tighter external financing conditions.
The bank said it would continue efforts to stabilise inflation and the exchange rate while working to rebuild positive equity over the medium to long term.
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