The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Minority in Parliament has raised fresh concerns over the financial health of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), arguing the central bank is policy insolvent.
Policy solvency is a measure of how the bank can fund its monetary policy operations, particularly liquidity management, using internally generated income.
Addressing a news conference on May 3, 2026, on the Bank of Ghana 2025 Audited Financial Statements, the Ranking Member on the Economy and Development Committee of Parliament, Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, reiterated that the 2925 losses of the Bank are significantly understated due to accounting treatments tied to gold reserve sales.
He described as misleading the Bank’s claim that its operational income of GH¢22.2 billion and open market operation (OMO) costs of GH¢16.7 billion, creating an apparent surplus of GH¢5.5 billion.
He pointed out that the income figure included a one-off gain of about GH¢9.6 billion from gold sales, which should not be treated as recurring operational income.
“Let us show you where the falsehood is. It is in the GH¢9.6 billion, which is included in the income from operations to arrive at the GH¢22.2 billion. This GH¢9.6 6illion is the net gain from sale of gold assets.
“If you remove the gold sale proceeds, the Bank’s operational income drops to about GH¢12.7 billion.
“Subtract the OMO cost of GH¢16.7 billion, and you are left with a deficit of roughly GH¢4 billion,” Mr. Oppong Nkrumah explained.
“The Bank of Ghana is not in the business of trading gold. Like any other entity, selling off assets to generate income cannot be a sustainable way of running an entity. “This is disclosed in Note 9 of the audited statements. It is not a recurring operational gain. It is a one-time disposal of strategic reserves at a moment of rising international gold prices,” Mr Oppong Nkrumah stressed.
‘GH¢15.6bn loss’ narrative disputed
At the centre of the controversy is the reported sale of approximately 18 tonnes of Ghana’s gold reserves, assets accumulated under the previous NPP administration.
The transaction generated about GH¢40.3 billion, yielding a net gain of GH¢9.57 billion.
While the BoG initially justified the move as part of a reserve portfolio rebalancing strategy, the Minority questioned the rationale.
According to the Caucus, there was no compelling macroeconomic justification for reducing gold holdings, especially when existing policy frameworks had emphasised building reserves rather than drawing them down.
The Minority also challenged the widely reported GH¢15.6 billion loss, insisting that the true financial impact is significantly higher.
The group pointed out an additional GH¢19.3 billion recorded under Other Comprehensive Income (OCI), bringing the total loss to approximately GH¢34.9 billion.
According to the Minority, when adjusted for the gold sale proceeds, the underlying loss could reach GH¢44 billion.
“This is the loss that has been hidden from the Ghanaian people,” the Minority said, accusing the government of using accounting treatments to downplay the scale of the problem.
Departure from normal accounting process
The Minority also raised concerns about the accounting standards used in preparing the financial statements.
The Caucus noted that the accounts were prepared under the Bank’s internal accounting policies rather than full International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), a point flagged by auditors and acknowledged by the Bank’s directors.
This approach, the Minority argued, allowed significant losses, particularly exchange rate-related valuation losses, to be recorded in OCI instead of the main income statement, thereby reducing the headline loss figure.
BoG reverses recovery trend
The Minority also highlighted what it described as a reversal of progress made in previous years.
2023 loss: GH¢13.23 billion
2024 loss: GH¢9.49 billion
2025 loss: GH¢15.63 billion
Mr Oppong Nkrumah, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ofoase-Ayirebi, emphasised that the Central Bank had been on a recovery path in 2024, with narrowing losses and improving equity.
However, he bemoaned that this trend, however, has been reversed in 2025, with losses increasing and the Bank’s negative equity position worsening to about GH¢93.8 billion.
“The central bank was healing. Now it is deteriorating,” Mr. Oppong Nkrumah said.
Policy decisions responsible for rising costs
The Minority attributed the deterioration to key policy reversals, including the removal of a dynamic cash reserve system that previously managed liquidity at a lower cost.
Others are the changes to foreign currency reserve requirements for banks and adjustments to the gold purchase programme, shifting costs onto the Bank.
These decisions, the Minority argued, led to a sharp increase in sterilisation costs, with the Bank paying over GH¢14 billion in interest to commercial banks holding its instruments.
Impact on the economy and households
Beyond the financial figures, the Minority argued that the current policy approach has not translated into improved living conditions for Ghanaians.
Mr Oppong Nkrumah cited tight liquidity, limited access to credit for businesses, high cost of living, and rising youth unemployment as evidence that macroeconomic stability has not yet delivered tangible benefits.
“Stability of numbers is not the same as stability of livelihoods,” he stressed.
Minority to propose policy alternatives
The Minority emphasised that its objective is to prompt corrective action rather than score political points.
“There is no triumph in being right when your country is bleeding,” Mr. Oppong Nkrumah said.
He announced that the Caucus will soon present policy alternatives aimed at restoring the Bank’s financial stability.
BoG’s “policy insolvency” marks one of the strongest statements yet from the Minority, setting the stage for an intensified national debate over the central bank’s role, independence, and the long-term sustainability of the economic policies.
