Bank of Ghana says bad loans fell to 15.7% while inflation edged up to 5.0%

Pinned summary · as of 06:13

The Bank of Ghana has released fresh readings on the health of the banking sector and the wider economy, with lenders' bad loans easing and inflation nudging higher in August 2026. The figures were reported on 25 and 26 September by The Vaultz News and The Ghana Report, which covered different parts of the central bank's release.

What we know

• Both The Vaultz News and The Ghana Report carried new Bank of Ghana data and assessments in late September 2026, the first on the state of the banking industry and the second on economic activity, sentiment and inflation.

What's disputed / unconfirmed

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  The Vaultz News reported that the Bank of Ghana put the banking industry's non-performing loan ratio at 15.7% in August 2026, down from 20.8% a year earlier. Bank officials were said to have presented the numbers at the 132nd Monetary Policy Committee meeting. No other report has covered these figures.
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  According to The Vaultz News, the ratio was 16.1% in June 2026 against 23.1% in June 2025, while the stock of bad loans shrank to GH₵19.9 billion from GH₵20.7 billion. The same report said the adjusted ratio, which leaves out fully provisioned loans, dropped to 4.6% from 8.5%. These points rest on one report.
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  The Vaultz News quoted Governor Dr Johnson Pandit Asiama as calling the banking sector solvent, profitable and liquid, with total assets in August 2026 of GH₵500.2 billion, a 20.5% annual rise. The paper also gave the capital adequacy ratio as 19.1%, up from 18.3% a year before, and said average lending rates fell by 15.9%. Dr Asiama also cautioned that credit risk remained high, and banks were expected to follow the bad-loan guidelines. None of this has been repeated elsewhere.
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  The Vaultz News reported that central bank guidelines require each regulated institution to get its own bad-loan ratio to 10% or below by the end of December 2026, and that those missing the mark face curbs on dividends and on loan growth. It added that the Bank of Ghana has tightened loan classification rules so troubled loans cannot be relabelled as performing too soon. No second report confirms this.
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  The Vaultz News also reported that private-sector borrowers held 98% of all bad loans in June 2026, up from 96.4% a year earlier, with the public sector's share at 2%. It said the bad-loan ratio in agriculture, forestry and fishing climbed to 65.1% from 59.1%, and that one bank held a ratio of 1.7% in the first half of 2026 while its loan book more than doubled. Nothing else has reported these details.
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  The Ghana Report said the Bank of Ghana's August 2026 confidence surveys pointed to upbeat consumer and business moods, which the bank tied to a fairly steady economy and hopes for growth. This has not been reported by other publications.
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  The Ghana Report reported that the Bank of Ghana's Composite Index of Economic Activity expanded by 14.9% over twelve months to July 2026, against 6.1% growth the year before, and that the bank credited private-sector credit, international trade and household spending for the gain. This comes from a single report.
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  According to The Ghana Report, headline inflation reached 5.0% in August 2026, up from a July reading of 4.6%, driven by non-food prices, which rose to 6.8% from 6.1% because of higher utility tariffs and crude oil prices. Food inflation eased slightly to 3.0% from 3.1%, the report said, and the Bank of Ghana noted that the headline rate is still under the bottom of its 8 ± 2% medium-term target range. These figures have not been carried by another publication.

Why it matters for Ghana

Bad loans shape how freely banks lend to businesses, traders and farmers, so a lower ratio, if borne out, could ease access to credit in Accra, Kumasi and beyond. The reported 65.1% ratio for agriculture points to continued strain for lenders serving farmers and fishers. A rise in non-food inflation linked to utility tariffs and fuel would show up in household bills and transport costs, even though overall inflation is still below the bank's target range.