The Bank of Ghana (BoG) released its 2025 audited financial statements, revealing an operating loss of GH₵15.6 billion, a significant increase from GH₵9.4 billion in 2024. The disclosure immediately sparked debate and concern, particularly regarding the true magnitude of the central bank's financial strain, with former Finance Minister and Karaga MP, Mohammed Amin Adam, alleging that the reported losses were significantly understated due to the accounting treatment of gold sales. Conversely, banking consultant Dr. Richmond Atuahene described these losses as a "necessary evil," a consequence of policy actions aimed at stabilizing the macroeconomic environment rather than operational failures.

The 2025 financial report highlighted a worsening negative equity position, which surged from GH₵58.62 billion to GH₵93.82 billion. While total assets saw an increase from GH₵215 billion to GH₵237 billion, total liabilities also escalated sharply, rising from GH₵276 billion to GH₵333 billion. These figures paint a challenging picture for the central bank, prompting calls for greater transparency and deeper analysis into the underlying drivers of these substantial deficits.

A central point of contention revolves around the Bank of Ghana's gold transactions. Dr. Amin Adam, in multiple public statements, argued that the reported GH₵15.6 billion net loss did not fully reflect the underlying fiscal challenges. He pointed out that the BoG reportedly sold approximately 18 tonnes of gold reserves, generating GH₵40.3 billion in proceeds and a net gain of GH₵9.57 billion. This gain, he contended, was reclassified from equity and recognized in the profit and loss account, effectively cushioning the headline loss. According to Dr. Adam, without this accounting treatment, the deficit could have exceeded GH₵25 billion, a figure corroborated by JoyNews Research Analyst Caleb Ziblim. Amin Adam criticized this approach as prioritizing "optics over substance," arguing that it obscures the true cost of monetary policy decisions and does not resolve the underlying drivers of the Bank’s losses. He also questioned the rationale behind these sales, suggesting they contradicted the previous policy direction of building, rather than reducing, gold reserves, especially considering the Bank's explanation of a "reserve portfolio rebalancing exercise."

Adding to the discourse, Dr. Gideon Boako, Member of Parliament for Tano North, reiterated his earlier warnings about the central bank’s exposure to losses linked to the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) programme. He noted that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had already highlighted a US$214 million loss from GoldBod's trading activities, and he alleged that the BoG was operating a multiple exchange rate system, causing further exchange losses on gold purchased at international market rates but held at an artificially lower valuation. Dr. Amin Adam also used the opportunity to defend the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme, introduced under the previous administration of former Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, describing it as a crucial buffer that strengthened the central bank’s balance sheet during periods of pressure.

Beyond the gold sales, several other major factors contributed to the significant losses. The spike in Open Market Operations (OMO) and sterilisation costs emerged as a primary driver, surging by about 95% to GH₵16.7 billion. Sterilisation liabilities to commercial banks jumped an alarming 186% to GH₵93.6 billion, while money market liabilities more than doubled to GH₵93.8 billion. Dr. Atuahene explained that these aggressive OMOs were "necessary" actions taken to contain inflation, stating that efforts to bring inflation down required such interventions, which consequently increased losses from GH₵8.1 billion to GH₵16.7 billion. Furthermore, the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) significantly reduced returns on government securities, resulting in an estimated forgone interest income exceeding GH₵12 billion for 2025. Exchange rate movements also played a substantial role, with the nearly 40% appreciation of the cedi triggering a GH₵23.6 billion revaluation loss on gold, Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), and foreign securities.

Despite the substantial losses, KPMG, the auditors, maintained that the Bank of Ghana remains operational and can continue to achieve its policy mandates on a "going concern basis." The auditing firm expressed optimism that improving macroeconomic conditions, including declining inflation and lower interest rates, would ease pressure on the central bank and reduce the cost of Open Market Operations, thereby supporting exchange rate stability and mitigating major cost drivers.

Looking ahead to 2026, the Bank of Ghana projects a more stable financial environment, not expecting a repeat of the 2025 losses. Its outlook is based on anticipated tighter monetary policy, lower inflation, and improved liquidity in the banking sector, which are expected to reduce the need for aggressive interventions. Planned legal reforms aimed at limiting central bank financing of government are also expected to strengthen fiscal discipline. However, the BoG acknowledges remaining risks, citing global oil price volatility, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, and tighter external financing conditions as potential threats. The central bank has affirmed its commitment to pursuing policies focused on anchoring inflation, stabilizing the exchange rate, and restoring macroeconomic stability, with the long-term goal of rebuilding positive equity.