The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has stated that Ghana’s financial sector stability has been maintained, though risks remain.

According to the Bretton Woods institution, the strengthened banking sector indicators reflect recapitalisation progress by most banks affected by the domestic debt exchange (DDE) with more expected to restore a capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of 13.0% without reliefs by end-2025.

However, it warned that some heterogeneity persists, and the authorities continue to closely monitor the remaining non-compliant banks. “Banking system NPL ratios, while declining, remain high, especially among state-owned banks, despite marginal credit growth”, it added.

It continued that the Bank of Ghana (BoG) has provided guidance and set prudential limits to address this issue.

In 2023 and 2024, the Ghana Financial Stability Fund supported recapitalization efforts of qualifying indigenous banks as well as insurance companies for recapitalization purposes and capital market institutions for liquidity support through marketable Government of Ghana bond issuance.

The BoG issued a new directive which introduces a sanction regime for willful loan defaulters and sets maximum NPL thresholds, breach of which will trigger sanction actions, including prohibitions on shareholder dividend and staff bonus payments.

The measures were intended to enforce stronger credit risk management, protect depositors, and improve asset quality in the financial sector.