The Bank of Ghana recorded a loss of GH₵10.50 billion for the financial year ending 2023.
This loss was mainly due to a substantial increase in total interest expenses on open market operations by the Central Bank.
These expenses on open market operations rose by GH₵6.7 billion during the period under review.
The increase in the expenses the bank says was incurred due to the need to manage excess liquidity in the economy and support the disinflation process as part of the broader macroeconomic adjustment programme.
As of December 31, 2023, the Bank of Ghana and its subsidiaries had total liabilities exceeding total assets by GH₵65.36 billion.
The total operating expenses for 2023 were GH₵19.2 billion, a notable decline from the GH₵ 66.9 billion recorded in 2022 – attributed to lower impairment charges on loans and advances and the Bank’s holdings of Government of Ghana securities
This GH₵10.50billion loss is however a significant improvement compared to the GHS 60.9 billion loss the Central Bank posted in 2022 following the impairment of its holdings of marketable government stocks and non-marketable instruments during the domestic debt exchange programme.
The Bank of Ghana further explains that “this Open Market Operations activity, which accounted for a significant portion of the loss incurred yielded positive results.
The aggressive mopping up operations, contributed to slowing down inflation to 23.2 per cent by the end of 2023, significantly down from the rate of 54.1 per cent at the end of 2022.”