Dr Gideon Boako says Bank of Ghana liquidity actions in 2025 shifted value to commercial banks, worsening central bank losses.
A senior lawmaker is questioning whether the Bank of Ghana’s 2025 liquidity moves ended up benefiting commercial banks at the public’s expense.
Dr Gideon Boako, Member of Parliament for Tano North, made the allegation in a response to Misryoum covering the Bank of Ghana’s 2025 financial statements. His central claim is that the central bank’s Open Market Operations helped drive heavy losses, while commercial banks recorded strong profits.
Keyphrase: Bank of Ghana liquidity. Dr Boako said the divergence was effectively a transfer of public resources, arguing that “BoG booked the losses, commercial banks booked the profits.”
He pointed to an increase in Open Market Operations costs, saying they rose sharply from GH¢8.2 billion in 2024 to GH¢16.73 billion in 2025. In his view, this escalation came after the Bank moved away from the dynamic Cash Reserve Ratio mechanism.
The MP described the change as a shift toward what he called “the most expensive liquidity-management tools,” even as inflationary pressures eased.. He argued the approach went beyond ordinary monetary policy and instead resulted in what he termed an unjust “wealth transfer” from public finances to private balance sheets.
In this context, the argument matters because it goes to the heart of how central banks use liquidity tools during tightening or stabilization phases, and who ultimately bears the cost.
Dr Boako also accused the Bank of reversing foreign exchange reserve-holding rules in ways that, according to him, injected liquidity into the system. He said Misryoum described how the Bank then had to mop up that liquidity again through Open Market Operations, but with high interest rates.
Beyond liquidity operations, he criticized the Bank’s foreign exchange and gold activities, alleging they were conducted at “structural loss.” He said the Bank recorded a GH¢9 billion loss under its gold purchase programme and questioned why it sold 18 tonnes of gold reserves while still ending the year with major losses.
He framed these outcomes as “policy-manufactured losses,” arguing the Bank buys FX or gold at market rates but values or sells them at a lower official rate. He warned that continued losses at the central bank could weaken confidence in Ghana’s financial system and harm institutional credibility.
As he put it, restoring credibility, once damaged, is costly. For policymakers and investors alike, these disputes often shape expectations about how future central bank decisions could be carried out and communicated.