Commercial Banks’ Bad Debt Write-offs Rise 43.4% to GHS 394.8 Million
Banks in Ghana recorded a total write-off of GHS 394.8 million in bad loans in February 2026, marking a 43.4 percent rise from the GHS 275.2 million reported during the same period in 2025.
The provisions, reflected in the Domestic Money Banks Income Statement, covered loan losses, depreciation, and bad debt expenses, underscoring ongoing pressures on the quality of banking sector assets.
Data from the Bank of Ghana’s March 2026 Monetary Policy Report indicated that asset quality risks remained relatively high, despite some improvement in key indicators.
The Non-Performing Loan (NPL) ratio declined to 18.4 percent in February 2026, down from 22.6 percent in February 2025. Likewise, the NPL ratio excluding fully provisioned loan losses eased to 5.4 percent from 8.9 percent over the same period.
In absolute terms, the stock of non-performing loans fell by 5.8 percent to GHS 19.9 billion in February 2026, compared to a 14.9 percent increase recorded a year earlier.
Further analysis of the NPL composition showed that the private sector continued to account for the majority of impaired loans, reflecting its significant share in total credit allocation.
The proportion of NPLs linked to the private sector increased to 98.1 percent in February 2026 from 96.2 percent in February 2025, while the public sector’s share declined to 1.9 percent from 3.8 percent over the same period, pointing to a growing concentration of credit risk within the private segment.
