The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has printed GH¢4.58 billion to support government spending, just six months after President John Dramani Mahama publicly assured that his administration would not resort to money printing.

In February, during the swearing-in of the new BoG Governor, President Mahama pledged not to compromise the central bank’s independence.

“One thing for sure, I am not going to come and ask you to print more money,” he said, warning that excessive money printing fuels inflation, poverty, and economic instability.

The assurance followed years of opposition attacks on the former New Patriotic Party (NPP) government, which the National Democratic Congress (NDC) accused of pressuring the BoG to finance its budgets.

In 2022, then-Ranking Member on Parliament’s Finance Committee and now Finance Minister, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, alleged that the BoG printed GH¢22.04 billion without parliamentary approval to fund the NPP government’s 2022 budget — a claim the central bank denied. Forson accused the then-Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, of deliberately omitting the figure from his mid-year budget review presentation.

Fast-forward to 2025, critics say history is repeating itself. The BoG is now accused of printing GH¢4.58 billion to finance the current government’s 2025 budget, a figure not captured in the mid-year budget review presented to Parliament by Dr. Forson.

Opponents have pointed to Appendix 2A of the 2025 Mid-Year Fiscal Policy Review, which details central government operations, as evidence. Ironically, this is the same document Dr. Forson himself relied on in 2022 to accuse the NPP government of similar practices.

The revelation has sparked accusations of hypocrisy and double standards. Social media users and political commentators argue that the NDC government, which once condemned its predecessors, has now engaged in the very act it criticised.

Analysts also warn that continued reliance on central bank financing could worsen inflationary pressures and undermine confidence in the government’s economic management.