Ghana's banks had a non-performing loan ratio of 15.7% at the end of August 2026, according to the Bank of Ghana's latest Summary of Economic and Financial Data, released on 23 September.
That is 5.1 percentage points lower than 20.8% a year earlier, but 15.7% is an industry average. Notice No. BG/GOV/SEC/2025/23, dated 13 August 2025, requires each regulated lender to ensure that its ratio of non-performing loans to gross loans "does not exceed 10 percent" by the end of December, now seven weeks away. The average does not show how many banks already meet that cap, or how many will miss it.
The ratio was 16.1% in June, 15.9% in July and 15.7% in August, down only 0.2 points in each of the past two published months. Bringing the average to 10% by the deadline would take a faster drop than the 5.1-point fall over the previous year.
Industry averages, August 2025 to August 2026. The 10% cap applies to each institution, not to the industry average.
Source: Bank of Ghana, Summary of Economic and Financial Data, 23 September 2026, table 9; Bank of Ghana Notice No. BG/GOV/SEC/2025/23 (10% cap). The Ministry of Finance's 2027 Budget states 14.0% for September 2026, a figure not yet in a published Bank of Ghana table; it is not plotted.
The Ministry of Finance's 2027 Budget Statement, presented on 12 November, says the ratio fell further, to 14.0% in September, from 20.4% a year earlier, matching the Bank's September 2025 print. That 14.0% is a Finance Ministry figure, not yet in any Bank of Ghana table published by 14 November; the latest file on the Bank's summary page remains the 23 September release, with data to August.
If later confirmed, the average would still be 4.0 points above 10%.
The Budget describes a directive "to reduce non-performing loan (NPL) ratios towards 10 percent by end-2026". The notice is stricter, and it applies to each institution, not the industry average. From 1 January 2027, lenders at or above 15% face immediate restrictions on dividends and bonuses, while those above 10% but below 15% face those curbs after two consecutive years of non-compliance.
Institutions above 10% are also restricted from expanding lending to related parties or to high-NPL sectors of their own books, except for cash-backed facilities.
No bank-by-bank split has been published, so the August average of 15.7%, just above the 15% line, says nothing definitive about how many banks will miss the deadline. An 8 November StatsGH report led on the end-2025 industry ratio of 18.9%.
The industry capital adequacy ratio was 19.1% in August, up from 18.3% and well above the 13% regulatory minimum. The Budget puts the September ratio at 18.9%, from 16.4% a year earlier, the September 2025 figure without regulatory reliefs; the ratio with reliefs that month was 17.5%.
Average lending was 15.94% in August, when inflation was 5.0%. The policy rate has been 14.0% since March, and the Monetary Policy Committee announces its next decision on 18 November.
Total bank advances rose 35.5% in the year to August, to GHS 129.2 billion, so some of the fall in the ratio reflects a larger loan book. Most of the remaining ratio is already in the loss category, which the Bank has told lenders to write off, with prior approval, once fully provisioned: excluding that category, the ratio was 3.8% in August, from 6.8% a year earlier.
Sources
- Bank of Ghana, Summary of Economic and Financial Data, September 2026 (table 9, Banking Sector Indicators, data to August 2026; table 3a, interest rates; table 1, year-on-year inflation), released 23 September 2026
- Bank of Ghana, Notice No. BG/GOV/SEC/2025/23, Regulatory Measures to Reduce Non-Performing Loans in Banks, SDIs and NBFIs, 13 August 2025
- Bank of Ghana, Explanatory Notes on the Notice on Regulatory Measures to Reduce Non-Performing Loans, August 2025
- Bank of Ghana, Remarks by Governor Dr Johnson Pandit Asiama at the 43rd AGM of the Ghana Association of Banks, 8 October 2026
- Ministry of Finance, 2027 Budget Statement and Economic Policy, paras 760–761 and 843–844, 12 November 2026
- Bank of Ghana, Notice of 133rd MPC Meetings, 5 November 2026
- Related: StatsGH, 8 November 2026