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Ghana has posted a trade surplus of $6.2 billion in the first eight months of 2025, driven mainly by strong gold exports and higher cocoa receipts, according to the Bank of Ghana (BoG).
Governor of the central bank, Dr. Johnson Asiama, disclosed the figures on Monday when he opened the 126th Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Accra.
He noted that despite seasonal pressures on the cedi and moderating remittance inflows in recent weeks, the country’s international gross reserves stood at $10.7 billion in August, providing import cover of about 4½ months.
Dr. Asiama emphasized that the cedi has been one of the world’s best-performing currencies so far in 2025, appreciating by 21% year-to-date as of September 12.
“It now ranks alongside high performers such as the Russian ruble, Swedish krona, Norwegian krone, Swiss franc, euro, and British pound,” he said, attributing the strength to prudent monetary policy, effective liquidity management, fiscal consolidation, and improved foreign-exchange inflows.
Banking sector resilience
The BoG Governor further assured the public of stability in the financial sector, reporting that the capital adequacy ratio (without regulatory reliefs) rose to 19.5% in July 2025.
While non-performing loans (NPLs) remain relatively high at 21.7%, Dr. Asiama noted that this figure drops significantly to 8.4% when fully provisioned losses are excluded — a reflection of continued recapitalisation and stricter underwriting standards.
On fiscal developments, Dr. Asiama said execution in the first half of 2025 signaled improved discipline, with the budget deficit contained at 0.7% of GDP on a commitment basis — below target. He added that the combination of a strong cedi and ongoing debt restructuring had contributed to a decline in the public debt ratio by mid-year.
Inflation and policy rate outlook
The Governor also highlighted Ghana’s progress in taming inflation, which fell further to 11.5% in August 2025, crediting the decline to tight monetary policy and fiscal consolidation.