Banking and Corporate Governance Consultant, Dr Richmond Atuahene, has cautioned against interpreting the recent rise in banking sector profits as evidence of improved operational efficiency.

Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on Wednesday, September 2, he argued that significant foreign exchange gains are contributing heavily to the improved financial performance.

Dr Atuahene said the sustainability of such gains must be questioned, particularly if the cedi begins to depreciate.

“As Professor Isaac Boadi of UPSA said, I look at it, and he called it a miracle. But if you dive deep into it, it’s not operational efficiency. It’s completely, it’s not operational efficiency.”

“If you are moved by foreign exchange gains by 60%, then you are not talking about efficiency,” he said.

For him, the key issue is not simply whether banks are reporting higher profits, but whether those profits are being generated through stronger underlying operations.

“So, for me, it’s not so much the profit, but are we talking about operational efficiency? Because other than that, when the reality comes, you’re going to have a hit,” he said.

Dr Atuahene warned that a reversal in the cedi’s fortunes could expose weaknesses currently masked by foreign exchange gains.

“When I mean the reality, should the cedi begin to go downwards, then you’ll begin to see that we have a big problem,” he said.

His comments come amid renewed debate over the quality and sustainability of improved financial results across Ghana’s corporate sector.

The State Interests and Governance Authority’s 2025 State Ownership Report, released in August, showed that SOEs swung from a GH¢2.25 billion net loss in 2024 to a GH¢19.8 billion net profit in 2025.

Revenue also increased from GH¢137.64 billion to GH¢176.43 billion.

However, the report also showed that the stronger cedi contributed significantly to the improvement.

SOEs recorded GH¢11.72 billion in net foreign exchange gains in 2025, compared with a GH¢12.01 billion foreign exchange loss in 2024.

Dr Atuahene said similar questions must be asked about the wider state enterprise sector.

He pointed to the scale of liabilities carried by state-owned entities and warned that the underlying weaknesses could eventually become a wider economic problem.

“And also, the magnitude of the debt, 282 billion. If you run an economy with such a debt overhang, I don’t know what you can do.”

“Debt overhang of over ¢700 billion; 282 billion is by the state enterprises. That is where we should have a little bit of concern and worry,” he said.

He said the government must take SOE reform seriously, arguing that the issue has persisted for years.

“That is the reason why, in the PCI, IMF’s PCI, one of the ten fundamental reforms that we are being required to do is to look at these SOEs, which is very, very important,” he said.

Dr Atuahene also questioned whether reported profits by state entities adequately reflect the quality of services delivered to the public.

“Produce the figures, talk about profit, but the reality, like Professor said, what is the output? You’re not getting your light on. You’re not getting your water.”

“But these people are being char-, these people are charging every now and then, declaring profit. Are we measuring it by what measure? What metrics are we using?”