The banking industry remained profitable for the first eight months of 2025, recording a growth of 46.1% to GH¢9.7 billion profit-after-tax.

This is relative to GH¢6.7 billion recorded during the same period in 2024.

According to the September 2025 Monetary Policy Report, the banking sector posted a growth in all income lines in August 2025, with other income growing at 47.3% compared to a contraction of 2.9% for the same period last year.

Net interest income picked up by 21.8% to GH¢19.2 billion from 16.9% in August 2024.

On year-on-year basis, interest income improved by 21.5% to GH¢29.3 billion in August 2025 from GH¢24.3 billion in August 2024.

Interest expense also increased to GH¢10.2 billion in August 2025 from GH¢8.4 billion in August 2024, representing a growth rate of 20.9%, relative to the 22.1% growth recorded in August 2024.

The growth in net interest income is attributable to the slowdown in interest expense due to lower interbank lending rates in August 2025 compared to August 2024.

Net fees and commissions recorded a growth of 13.1% in August 2025, down from 22.9% a year ago, while “other income” surged by 47.3% to GH¢4.8 million compared to a contraction of 2.9% in August 2024.

These developments resulted in a 28.0% growth in the industry’s net operating income in August 2025, compared with the 10.9% growth recorded a year ago.

The cost lines also recorded similar increases in August 2025; however, the difference in growth rates between August 2025 and August 2024 was marginal.

According to the report, the banking industry’s operating expenses grew by 19.5% in August 2025, compared to 18.9% in 2024, on the back of a negligible growth in staff costs and other operating (administrative) expenses.

The provisions for depreciation, bad debt and impairment losses on financial assets contracted further by 46.0% in August 2025, compared to the 19.2% contraction recorded in August 2024. This is on account of the increase in write-offs and recoveries during the review period.

Return on Assets and Return on Equity

The banking sector’s profitability indicators, namely, return-on-assets (ROA), and return-on-equity (ROE), improved during the period under review.

This follows the robust growth of profit-before-tax and profit-after-tax.

The ROE increased from 31.4% in August 2024 to 32.2% in August 2025, while the ROA also went up to 5.6% from 4.9% over the same comparative period.