Minority Warns: BoG Risks “Actual Insolvency” Without Reform, Will Send Proposals to IMF

ACCRA, May 3, 2026 — The Minority says the Bank of Ghana risks sliding from “policy insolvency” to “actual insolvency” unless urgent reforms are forced through the IMF’s next review, after revealing what it calls a GHS 44bn “underlying loss” for 2025.

“Today we just wanted to expose these facts to you. Later in the week we will add our recommendations to it,” the Minority spokesperson on Economy and Development, Hon. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said, closing a press briefing that tore into BoG’s 2025 results.

The Warning

“What is required are reforms… to ensure that the Bank of Ghana doesn’t collapse. Because we don’t even trust that this government will listen… we’re gonna communicate those reforms to the IMF in their last review… That they must ensure that these reforms take place else the Central Bank sadly… I may get to actual insolvency.”

Context: Why “Insolvency” Is Being Used

1. Negative Equity: BoG’s cumulative negative equity hit GHS 96.3bn in 2025 — GHS 61.3bn from 2022-2024 + GHS 35bn added in 2025.
2. “Policy Insolvency” Claim: Minority says the GHS 44bn underlying loss + GHS 14.6bn cash interest paid to banks means BoG’s balance sheet can’t support policy without wealth transfer.
3. Sterilization Escalation: “From January to now the sterilization they’ve done this year alone is more than what they did last year which led to the 44 billion loss. So how can they tell you that the thing will not happen again?”

Minority’s 3 Core Allegations Recap

1. Avoidable Cost: GHS 16.7bn OMO bill was “cost of policy reversal,” not inflation-fighting. Scrapping DCRR + Cedi-equivalent reserves ended free liquidity mop-up.
2. Wealth Transfer: GHS 14.6bn interest to banks = record bank profits while private credit fell 13.9%, youth unemployment hit 34%, and Agenda 111 stalled.
3. Gold Loss: GHS 9bn BoG loss vs GHS 900m GoldBod profit = GHS 8.1bn net state loss.

BoG’s Counter-Position
BoG maintains:

• Negative equity “does not affect ability to set policy, manage reserves, or supervise banks.”
• 2025 was “peak” — GANREP, lower 14% policy rate, and no liquidity overhang mean costs won’t repeat.
• Results delivered: 3.2% inflation, 41% cedi gain, $14.5bn reserves, lending rates 17.7%.

What’s Next
The Minority says it will publish detailed reform recommendations “later in the week” and submit them directly to the IMF during its ongoing review, citing lack of trust in government to act.

“They say this will not happen again next year. But… sterilization this year alone is more than last year,” Hon. Oppong Nkrumah said. “We don’t even trust that this government will listen.”

The Stakes: A central bank can operate with negative equity — ECB, Fed, Czech National Bank have. “Actual insolvency” would mean inablity to meet obligations. BoG says it’s nowhere near that. Minority says the trajectory leads there without IMF-enforced reform.

Source: Clement Akoloh/parliamentnews360.com