The financial sector remains under severe strain despite years of reforms, Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson told Parliament on Thursday as he presented the 2026 Budget.
He revealed that government still faces a GH₵7.0 billion funding gap to clear legacy debts from the 2020 banking-sector clean-up and to stabilise distressed fund management firms, describing the situation as a continued threat to economic recovery.
Dr. Forson said the system was still grappling with “residual vulnerabilities,” citing pressures on capital adequacy, liquidity shortfalls, lingering exposures from the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme, and what he called a “tight interlinkage between fiscal and financial stability.” He warned that without additional support, parts of the sector could remain unstable.
A major share of the outstanding liabilities relates to the resolution of collapsed savings and loans companies. The Minister said the Receiver now needs GH₵2.0 billion to settle claims for 55,376 depositors, adding that asset recovery efforts have so far brought in GH₵3.2 billion, or about 75% of the expected GH₵4.2 billion.
Dr. Forson also pointed to deepening risks in the asset management industry. Assets under management, he said, reached GH₵85.5 billion — around 10% of GDP — by September 2025, up from GH₵72.0 billion at the end of 2024. Despite this growth, about GH₵5.0 billion of investor funds is still at risk due to distressed Fund Management Companies. Government commitments include GH₵4.4 billion to complete investor bailouts and GH₵600 million to support the most troubled firms, though asset recovery in this sub-sector — GH₵965 million by September 2025 — remains below the targeted GH₵1.4 billion.
Dr. Forson had stated during the 2025 Mid-Year Budget Review that approximately GH₵10 billion would be needed to bail out failed and distressed specialised deposit-taking institutions — a cost he said still weighs heavily on the public purse.
However, he did not provide a clear timetable for compensating the affected customers, many of whom have spent years demanding access to their locked-up funds.
The clean-up exercise referenced by the Minister began in 2017 and led to the closure of banks, microfinance firms and dozens of fund management companies judged insolvent or poorly governed.
While the intervention was aimed at safeguarding depositors and restoring stability, it came at a substantial fiscal cost that continues to shape budgetary decisions.
Dr. Forson said these “legacy exposures” remain a significant burden, making further allocation unavoidable.
