The Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson has announced that the Bank of Ghana (BoG) is requesting a GH₵53 billion bailout to address its financial difficulties caused by negative equity.

Presenting the 2025 Budget Statement and Economic Policy in Parliament on Tuesday, March 11, Dr. Forson highlighted the severe financial strain faced by the central bank and emphasized the need for substantial support to restore its stability.

“The BoG is also seeking an amount of GH₵53 billion as a bailout to be able to address their negative equity challenge they face,” Dr. Forson stated.

Fiscal challenges

He disclosed that government’s total arrears has risen to GH₵67.5 billion as of December 2024, which represents 5.2% of Ghana’s GDP.

Dr. Forson lamented that the road sector alone accounted for GH₵21 billion of the arrears.

“As of December 2024, the total central government arrears amounted to GH₵67.5 billion, or 5.2% of GDP, with the road sector contributing GH₵21 billion,” he said

He pointed out that since assuming office on January 2025, government has been overwhelmed by payment requests from contractors and suppliers.

He said to assess the total arrears across all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, the Ministry of Finance requested an updated list of unpaid claims on January 28, 2025.

“Following this, the MoF conducted a special hearing with MDAs to confirm the arrears. The response indicated that GH₵67.5 billion is owed to government contractors and suppliers,” he noted.

He observed that the total included GH₵49.2 billion in unpaid interim invoices from MDAs and GH₵18.3 billion in bank transfers at the Controller and Accountant General’s Department.

Dr. Forson also clarified that the figure does not account for additional debts, including $1.73 billion owed to Independent Power Producers (IPPs), GH₵68 billion owed by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to contractors, GH₵32 billion owed by COCOBOD, and GH₵5.75 billion owed by the Ghana Road Fund to contractors.