By: Franklin Asare-Donkoh
The Governor of Ghana’s central bank, the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr. Johnson Asiama, has disclosed that the country’s trade surplus increased to $6.2 billion for the first eight months of this year.
According to him, this was underpinned by robust gold exports and higher cocoa receipts.
The BoG Governor disclosed this when he opened the 126th Monetary Policy Committee meeting today, 15th September 2025.
Dr. Asiama also stated that, despite seasonal pressure on the cedi and moderation in remittance inflows in recent weeks, the country’s International Gross Reserves (IGR) stood at US$10.7 billion in August, covering approximately 4½ months of imports.
On the cedi, he argued that the local currency remains among the strongest globally year-to-date, having appreciated by about 21% as of September 12, 2025.
“It now ranks alongside high performers such as the Russian ruble, Swedish krona, Norwegian krone, Swiss franc, euro, and British pound. This outperformance reflects prudent monetary policy, effective liquidity management, fiscal consolidation, and increased foreign-exchange inflows,” the Governor added.
The Governor of the BoG has, however, assured the public that the banking sector remains stable and improving, with the capital adequacy ratio (without reliefs) rising to 19.5% in July 2025.
He also revealed that while Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) remain elevated at 21.7%, they dropped to 8.4% when fully provisioned losses are excluded, underscoring ongoing resilience as recapitalisation and strict underwriting continue.
On the fiscal side, Dr. Asiama explained that “the execution in the first half of 2025 signaled consolidation: the deficit on a commitment basis was contained at 0.7% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), below target, contributing, together with cedi strength and external restructuring, to a decline in the public debt ratio by mid-year.”
On policy rate development, the Governor reiterated the committee’s readiness to adjust as the disinflation process evolves and as risks, such as global trade disruptions or prospective utility tariff adjustments, are assessed.
Dr. Asiama believes that the bank’s tight monetary stance and fiscal consolidation played a critical role in headline inflation falling further to 11.5% in August 2025.
