The Bank of Ghana (BoG) spent approximately GH¢17 billion managing excess liquidity in 2025 to bring inflation under control, but Governor Dr Johnson Pandit Asiama says the central bank is now better placed to sustain price stability without repeating that level of expenditure.
Speaking at the Governor’s Roundtable during the 2026 Kwahu Business Forum, Dr Asiama offered a candid account of the financial cost of Ghana’s disinflation drive. “Last year was good but expensive for the central bank. It took us a lot of money to mop up excess liquidity and bring inflation down to 5.4% by December 2025,” he told business leaders.
The liquidity management operations required to absorb excess liquidity from the banking system resulted in interest costs of approximately GH¢17 billion, a process that helped deliver one of the sharpest inflation declines in Ghana’s recent history. Inflation fell from 23.8 percent in December 2024 to 5.4 percent by end of 2025, with the cedi stabilising as a key outcome of those policy measures. It has since declined further to 3.3 percent as of February 2026, the 14th consecutive month of reduction.
The Governor expressed confidence that holding the gains in 2026 would demand less from the central bank’s balance sheet. “If you look at where inflation was at the end of December 2024 and where it is now, it wouldn’t involve the same level of resources to keep it low and stable going forward,” he said, suggesting that the heavy lifting done in 2025 has created a foundation for more sustainable monetary management.
Dr Asiama stressed that central banking is fundamentally about managing competing priorities. “The work we do is always about trade-offs, trying to strike the right balance,” he said, pointing to the tension between controlling inflation, supporting growth, and maintaining credit flows that businesses depend on.
He assured the business community that the BoG remains committed to strengthening the financial system to support private sector expansion, noting that “when banks are strong, they can give more credit.”
The broader macroeconomic scorecard underscores the scale of the turnaround. The Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) was cut from 27 percent to 14 percent, average bank lending rates fell from over 30 percent to 19.7 percent, and gross international reserves rose from US$8.9 billion to US$13.8 billion, providing about 5.7 months of import cover.
The Governor’s Roundtable marked the closing session of the 2026 Kwahu Business Forum, bringing together business leaders, investors, policymakers, and development partners to discuss strategies for economic growth. Among those in attendance were Chief of Staff Julius Debrah, Eastern Regional Minister Rita Akosua Adjei Awatey, and Economic Advisor to the President Seth Terkper.
