Banks in Ghana wrote off GH¢394.8 million in bad loans in February 2026, a 43.4% increase compared to GH¢275.2 million in the same period in 2025.
The write-offs covered loan losses, depreciation, and bad debts, according to industry data.
Despite the rise in bad debt provisions, overall loan quality showed some improvement.
The Bank of Ghana’s March 2026 Monetary Policy Report noted that the Non-Performing Loan (NPL) ratio fell to 18.4% in February 2026, down from 22.6% a year earlier.
The adjusted NPL ratio, which excludes fully provisioned loans, also declined from 8.9% to 5.4%.
In addition, the total stock of non-performing loans dropped by 5.8% to GH¢19.9 billion, compared to a 14.9% increase recorded in February 2025.
Most of the bad loans came from the private sector, which accounted for 98.1% of NPLs in February 2026, up from 96.2% the previous year. Meanwhile, the public sector’s share declined to 1.9% from 3.8%.
Overall, while banks are writing off more bad loans, there are signs that loan quality is gradually improving.
