- BoG Did Not Hide Its Losses — The Numbers Were in Plain Sight
Claims that the Bank of Ghana understated or hid losses in its 2025 financial statements are false, based on the structure and disclosures contained in the central bank’s published accounts.
The Bank of Ghana released its financial statements for the period January 1 to December 31, 2025, in accordance with the law. The accounts clearly separated the central bank’s operating performance from its broader comprehensive income position, as required under International Financial Reporting Standards.
On page 15 of the financial statements, the Bank of Ghana disclosed an operating loss of GH¢15.6 billion in the Consolidated and Separate Statements of Profit or Loss for the year ended December 31, 2025.
The statement also included the standard accounting proviso that the notes to the financial statements form an integral part of the accounts, meaning the figures must be read together with the accompanying explanations, schedules and disclosures.
On page 16, the Bank further presented its Consolidated and Separate Statements of Other Comprehensive Income, disclosing the other comprehensive income figure and the total comprehensive income figure for the same period.
The distinction is important. An operating loss reflects the performance of the Bank’s core activities during the year. Comprehensive income, however, captures the wider accounting impact on the balance sheet, including revaluation effects, exchange rate movements, bond valuation changes and other non-operational economic shocks.
In simple terms, operating performance shows how the Bank is running its core activities, while comprehensive income shows the fuller impact of market and macroeconomic conditions on its financial position.
Under International Financial Reporting Standards, a loss is not limited only to day-to-day operations. It may also include valuation effects that arise from movements in currency, interest rates and financial instruments.
That means not all reported losses are the same. Some losses reflect cash-based operational costs. Others are accounting losses driven by economic conditions and revaluation effects.
In the Bank of Ghana’s 2025 case, a significant portion of the wider comprehensive income loss was non-cash in nature and was driven largely by the sharp appreciation of the cedi, which strengthened by more than 40% during the review year.
A stronger cedi can improve the cost of imports, reduce foreign exchange pressures and support disinflation. But for a central bank holding foreign currency assets, it can also generate accounting losses when those foreign assets are translated back into local currency.
That does not mean the loss was hidden. It means the loss was classified according to accounting standards.
The Bank of Ghana also addressed the issue directly in an official Questions and Answers document issued on its 2025 financials. The first question in that document referenced both the operating loss and the other comprehensive income loss, further weakening the claim that the Bank sought to conceal the wider figure.
The controversy therefore appears to arise less from non-disclosure and more from confusion between two accounting concepts: operating loss and total comprehensive income.
For public accountability, both figures matter. The operating loss helps assess the central bank’s direct financial performance. The comprehensive income figure shows the broader impact of market movements and macroeconomic conditions on its balance sheet.
But presenting the operating loss separately from other comprehensive income is not concealment. It is standard financial reporting practice.
The more substantive debate should therefore not be whether the Bank of Ghana hid the figures. The accounts show that it did not. The real policy question is whether the costs reflected in the financial statements were justified by the broader macroeconomic gains recorded in 2025, including disinflation, exchange rate stability, stronger reserves and improved market confidence.
Verdict: The claim that the Bank of Ghana reported a lower loss figure to hide losses is false. The 2025 financial statements disclosed both the operating loss and the other comprehensive income impact. The disagreement is about interpretation, not concealment.
