Fiscal Discipline Key to Sustaining Ghana’s Economic Gains – BoG
Bank of Ghana (BoG) Governor, Dr Johnson Asiama, has stressed the need for continued fiscal discipline and prudent debt management to sustain Ghana’s recent economic gains and strengthen investor confidence.
He said government must maintain expenditure restraint while intensifying revenue mobilisation to support the economy and safeguard macroeconomic stability.
Dr Asiama made the remarks at a meeting with Managing Directors and heads of commercial banks at the Bank Square in Accra.
He said government’s fiscal performance in the first quarter of 2026 had provided an important anchor for macroeconomic stability, despite shortfalls in revenue.
“Fiscal performance in the first quarter of 2026 broadly reflected strong expenditure restraint, notwithstanding revenue shortfalls, resulting in better-than-targeted balances on a cash basis,” he said.
The Governor emphasised that prudent debt management and fiscal discipline would remain critical to preserving debt sustainability and reducing fiscal risks to the economic outlook.
“Prudent debt management and fiscal discipline will be critical to preserving debt sustainability, strengthening investor confidence, and reducing fiscal risks to the macroeconomic outlook,” he said.
Dr Asiama also highlighted improvements in Ghana’s external position, noting that gross international reserves had reached US$12.9 billion at the end of June 2026, equivalent to 5.0 months of import cover.
Despite recent pressures on reserves and uncertainties arising from developments in the Middle East, he said the Ghanaian economy continued to demonstrate strong performance.
Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 6.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2026, up from 6.2 per cent recorded during the same period in 2025.
According to the Governor, the growth was largely driven by the Services and Industrial sectors, while the Bank’s Composite Index of Economic Activity also pointed to sustained and broad-based momentum in economic activity.
Meanwhile, Dr Asiama raised concerns over the continued issuance of dud cheques, saying the Bank of Ghana had observed a high level of non-compliance.
He urged commercial banks to strengthen monitoring mechanisms, intensify customer engagement and promote confidence in cheques as a reliable payment instrument.
The Governor also disclosed that the central bank had intensified its efforts to tackle unlicensed digital lending activities.
He said the Bank had begun publishing weekly lists of entities providing digital credit services without the required regulatory approval.
“Relevant law enforcement and regulatory agencies are also taking further action to facilitate the removal of non-compliant operators from the market,” he stated.
Dr Asiama assured the banking sector that the Bank of Ghana would continue to provide the regulatory and policy environment required to support a sound, resilient and growth-oriented banking industry.
