See how much Finance Minister says is needed to capitalise NIB and ADB for economic stability

Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson has stated that an additional GH¢2.2 billion is required to fully capitalize the National Investment Bank (NIB) and the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) to ensure they have enough financial resources to operate effectively, meet regulatory requirements and support economic stability. 

During his presentation of the 2025 Budget in Accra on Tuesday, March 11, 2025, Dr Forson acknowledged that the country still faces financial sector risks, despite having spent GH¢30.3 billion on the financial sector clean-up exercise by the end of 2024.

"This includes GH¢26.9 billion spending for the banks, Savings and Loans companies, Financial Houses, Micro-Finance Institutions, and Asset Management companies," he said.

"Mr Speaker, the sector requires GH¢10.45 billion to address the remaining financial sector legacy issues
and emerging risks. In addition, an amount of GH¢2.2 billion is required to fully capitalise NIB and ADB," the Finance Minister said. 

Regarding fiscal performance, he stated that 2024 saw improved revenue collection, but it was also marked by significant expenditure overruns and the accumulation of large arrears.

"In summary, Mr Speaker, provisional data show that the primary balance on commitment basis, the key fiscal anchor, worsened from a deficit of 0.2 per cent of GDP at the end of 2023 to a deficit of 3.9 per cent of GDP at the end of 2024, that is 4.4 percentage points worse than the target surplus of 0.5% of GDP," he said.

Read his comments on the 2024 fiscal performance below:

ii on cash basis, the primary balance was a deficit of
1.2% of GDP against a target deficit of 0.6%;

iii the overall fiscal balance on commitment basis for 2024 was a deficit of 7.9% of GDP against a
target deficit of 4.2% whilst the Overall Fiscal Balance on cash basis was a deficit of 5.2% of GDP against a target of 5.3%;

iv total revenue and grants amounted to GH¢186.6 billion or 15.9% of GDP, 5.3 percent above the revised target of GH¢177.2 billion or 17.4% of GDP. The performance was mainly driven by the higherthan-programmed Oil and Gasreceipts and higher
non-oil tax revenue;

v total expenditure on commitment basis, including discrepancy amounted to GH¢279.2 billion or 23.7% of GDP. This is 27.1 percent above the budgetary provision of GH¢219.7 billion or 21.5%
of GDP;

vi Primary Expenditure on commitment basis, including discrepancy amounted to GH¢232.4 billion or 19.8% of GDP. This is 35.3 percent above the target of GH¢171.7 billion or 16.8 percent of GDP;

vii all expenditure lines exceeded their respective targets for the period except for Interest Payments, Goods and Services and Other Expenditure; and

viii the discrepancy for 2024, being unclassified expenditure, was GH¢3.8 billion as compared to a discrepancy of GH¢12.9 billion in 2023.