Banks in Ghana wrote off GH¢883.7 million in bad debt during the first four months of 2026, representing a 35.1 percent increase from the GH¢654.2 million recorded over the same period last year, according to the Bank of Ghana’s Domestic Money Banks Income Statement.
The central bank said the total provisions comprised loan losses, depreciation and other impairment-related charges.
Loan write-offs occur when financial institutions remove loans considered uncollectable—typically those that have remained in default for more than 180 days—from their balance sheets to reflect a more accurate financial position.
Despite the rise in write-offs, the banking sector recorded improvements in asset quality during the review period.
The industry’s Non-Performing Loans (NPL) ratio declined to 18.0 percent in April 2026 from 23.6 percent in April 2025, indicating a reduction in the proportion of impaired loans.
Similarly, the NPL ratio, after adjusting for fully provisioned loan losses, fell to 5.6 percent from 9.0 percent over the same period.
The stock of non-performing loans also declined from GH¢21.7 billion in April 2025 to GH¢20.7 billion in April 2026.
Data from the Bank of Ghana showed that the private sector continued to account for the overwhelming share of bad loans. Its contribution to total NPLs increased to 98.2 percent from 96.5 percent a year earlier, while the public sector’s share declined from 3.5 percent to 1.8 percent.
The central bank attributed the overall decline in the industry’s NPL ratio to improvements in asset quality across most sectors of the economy.
However, the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector remained an exception, recording a further deterioration in loan performance. The sector’s NPL ratio rose from 62.1 percent in April 2025 to 66.1 percent in April 2026, making it the only sector to experience worsening asset quality during the period under review.
Source: businesspostonline
