Ghana’s banking sector wrote off GH¢654.2 million in bad loans during the first four months of 2025, marking a decline from GH¢863.4 million in the same period in 2024 and GH¢1.087 billion in 2022.
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The Bank of Ghana’s Domestic Money Bank Report attributes the write-offs to loan losses, depreciation, and other factors. Despite the substantial figure, the report notes an improvement in the sector’s exposure to credit risk, reflected in a drop in the non-performing loan (NPL) ratio.
By April 2025, the NPL ratio had fallen to 23.6%, down from 25.7% a year earlier. When adjusted for fully provisioned loan losses, the figure dropped even further, from 11.1% in April 2024 to 9.0% in April 2025. This improvement was driven by faster growth in total loans compared to growth in non-performing loans.
The NPL stock itself rose by 8.7%, reaching GH¢21.7 billion in April 2025, up from GH¢20.0 billion the year before.
The report also shows that 93.4% of non-performing loans were tied to the private sector, compared to 91.0% in April 2024. Public sector NPLs, on the other hand, dropped from 9.0% to 6.6% year-on-year.
The data suggests a strengthening banking sector, with better loan recovery practices and more controlled credit risk exposure.
