Banking sector assets hit GHc500.20bn; CAR, NPLs improve — BoG Governor

The total assets of Ghana’s banking sector increased by 20.47 per cent to GH¢500.20 billion at the end of August 2026, up from GH¢415.20 billion recorded in 2025, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr Johnson Pandit Asiama, has said.

He attributed the growth to improving conditions in the banking industry, supported by a more stable macroeconomic environment and regulatory and supervisory reforms undertaken by the central bank.

Dr Asiama disclosed this in Accra on Thursday when he addressed the 43rd Annual General Meeting of the Ghana Association of Banks.

He said the sector’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) improved from 18.28 per cent in August 2025 to 19.10 per cent in August 2026, well above the regulatory minimum of 13 per cent.

Asset quality also strengthened, with the Non-Performing Loans (NPL) ratio declining from 20.77 per cent in August 2025 to 15.66 per cent in August 2026.

The Governor said all 23 banks operating in the country had met the regulatory capital requirements, following capital restoration efforts after the economic crisis and financial asset impairments associated with the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP).

He recalled that 13 banks breached regulatory capital requirements in their 2022 audited financial statements. However, he said collaboration among the banks, shareholders, investors, the Government and the BoG had helped restore compliance across the sector.

Despite the improvement, Dr Asiama cautioned that capital restoration alone was not sufficient to guarantee long-term stability. He urged banks to strengthen their business models, risk management practices and capacity to withstand future economic shocks.

He said the BoG conducted a comprehensive thematic review of the viability and long-term sustainability of banks’ business models in 2025, and shared identified vulnerabilities with the affected institutions.

Engagements with the boards and senior management of the affected banks had commenced, he said, adding that a second round of Business Model Analysis would be undertaken in 2027.

The reviews, he explained, were intended to ensure that banks maintained sustainable business models and adequately identified, measured, monitored and managed the risks embedded in their operations.

Dr Asiama also reminded the banks of the requirement to reduce their NPL ratios to the prudential limit of 10 per cent by the end of December 2026.

He assured that the central bank would continue to strengthen its regulatory and supervisory frameworks to preserve the gains made by the banking sector and ensure that stronger balance sheets translated into sustainable operations and greater support for productive economic activity.