A former Director of the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), Peter Quartey, has praised the Bank of Ghana for its transparency in disclosing its GH¢15.6 billion operating loss for the 2025 financial year, describing the move as a positive step for public accountability.

His comments follow the release of the central bank’s 2025 Annual Report and Financial Statements, which revealed that the Bank of Ghana recorded an operating loss of GH¢15.6 billion—an increase from GH¢9.48 billion in 2024. This marks the fourth consecutive year of losses, following GH¢60.9 billion in 2022 and GH¢10.5 billion in 2023.

The Bank attributed the latest deficit largely to the high cost of its tight monetary policy measures aimed at curbing inflation. Despite this, total operating income rose to GH¢22.23 billion, driven by improved reserve management returns, fee income, and bullion gold sales. However, expenditure pressures continued to outweigh revenue gains.

Speaking on The Big Issue on Channel One TV on Saturday, May 2, 2026, Prof. Quartey said the disclosure should be commended, noting that such openness is not common in several other jurisdictions.

“We need to commend past governors and current governors for disclosing this information,” he said.

He explained that Ghana’s largely cash-based economy places additional pressure on the central bank to manage liquidity effectively.

“We have a systemic problem, which is that we are a cash-based economy. So anytime there’s excess liquidity, the central bank has to mop that excess liquidity,” he noted.

Prof. Quartey also linked the situation to the aftermath of the domestic debt exchange programme, which he said has affected investor confidence and reduced appetite for long-term government securities.

“I remember that we had a debt exchange programme and some coupon rates have been paid over time. So there is quite a significant amount of injection into the system because of what happened with bonds,” he explained.

He added that reduced investor willingness to lock funds into long-term instruments has limited policy options, forcing the central bank to rely on open market operations.

“So that was the option left for the Bank of Ghana to do open market operations and mop the excess liquidity. And that comes with a cost,” he stated.

While acknowledging the scale of the losses, the economist maintained that they are largely the result of policy interventions aimed at stabilising the economy.

“When you incur losses for a good cause, I don’t think it is a problem. What we should look at going forward is how we minimise these losses,” he said.

Prof. Quartey further noted that Ghana’s level of transparency compares favourably with some other African countries where central bank disclosures are less open.