Omanghana
Ghana’s Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has defended the Bank of Ghana’s reported GH¢15.6 billion operating loss, describing it as a necessary fiscal trade-off in the pursuit of macroeconomic stability under President John Dramani Mahama’s administration.
Speaking at a public engagement, Iddrisu rejected criticism from political opponents and argued that the core mandate of the central bank is not profit generation, but the maintenance of price stability and disinflation. He stressed that a key policy question should be whether a central bank can successfully stabilize an economy without incurring accounting losses in the process.
The debate was triggered by the Bank of Ghana’s latest financial report, which revealed a significant widening of its deficit. The central bank recorded an operating loss of GH¢15.63 billion for the 2025 financial year, representing a 65% increase compared to the GH¢9.49 billion loss posted in 2024.
Opposition lawmakers have strongly contested the figures. The parliamentary minority caucus claims that broader accounting adjustments—particularly those linked to currency appreciation effects on foreign holdings—push the institution’s total comprehensive loss to an estimated GH¢34.9 billion, raising concerns about transparency and fiscal management.
Despite the controversy, government officials and allied economists argue that central banks operate under fundamentally different principles than commercial institutions and should not be assessed purely on profitability. They maintain that the Bank of Ghana’s policy actions have produced significant macroeconomic gains that justify the short-term financial losses.
Among the key achievements cited is a dramatic decline in inflation, which reportedly fell from a peak of 54.1% in 2022 to 3.2% by March 2026 following aggressive monetary tightening measures. Officials also point to a substantial reduction in lending and interbank rates, which dropped from approximately 30% to 14%, easing borrowing conditions across the economy.
Additionally, the central bank is credited with strengthening Ghana’s external position by building international reserves to a record level of about $14.5 billion, helping to stabilize the local currency and cushion the economy against global financial shocks.
While defending the institution’s performance, Haruna Iddrisu also echoed calls from independent economists for reforms aimed at strengthening the Bank of Ghana’s balance sheet and improving operational transparency. He suggested clearer separation of roles in the central bank’s gold-related activities, recommending that the institution focus primarily on reserve management while delegating physical gold purchasing operations to the Precious Minerals Marketing Company, also known as the Gold Board.
Source: Omanghana
