Claim: The Ranking Member on the Food and Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs Committee of Parliament, Eric Opoku, has claimed that all banks in the country recorded losses in 2022.
Verdict: False. The 2022 audited financial statements of GT Bank, Societe General, First Atlantic Bank, FBN Bank Ghana, United Bank of Africa and Guaranty Trust Bank show that they all recorded profits in 2022.
Full Text
In a Wednesday, August 9, 2023, interview on Adom FM 106.3FM, the Ranking Member on the Food and Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs Committee of Parliament, Eric Opoku, claimed that all banks in the country recorded losses in 2022.
The claim was made in a local dialect, Twi. Translating it into English, Mr Opoku said, “Do you know that in 2022 all the banks in the country recorded losses?”
He made this claim during a discussion segment on Dwaso Nsem, the radio station’s morning show. The discussion was centred on the recent loss of ¢60.8 Billion Ghana cedis in 2022 by the Bank of Ghana. The claim can be found from 0:53 – 0:57 of the show, published on its YouTube account.
Adom FM, according to the Ghana Media Measurement Report for 2017, was ranked as the 4rth most listened to radio station in the Greater Accra Region with over 83,000 listeners.
Verification Verification
According to the Bank of Ghana, there are 23 commercial registered banks. In view of this, DUBAWA critically reviewed all the 2022 audited financial statements of these banks.
Our research discovered that most banks that have released their 2022 audited financial statements as of August 12, 2023, have recorded losses.
Out of the 23 banks, only six recorded profits. This record loss results from a difficult economic environment that triggered the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme or debt restructuring, negatively impacting the operations of the financial institutions.
According to their 2022 audited financial statements, the six banks that recorded a profit before tax (PBT) were Guaranty Trust Bank (¢191m), Societe Generale (¢168m), FBN Ghana Limited (¢102m), Bank of Africa (¢14m), First Atlantic Bank (¢ 22m) and United Bank of Africa (¢91m).
However, as of the writing of this report, the National Investment Bank had not published its audited financial statement.
The banks that recorded losses are Absa Bank Ghana Limited, Access Bank (Ghana)Plc, Agricultural Development Bank Limited, CalBank PLC, Consolidated Bank Ghana Limited, Ecobank Ghana Limited, Fidelity Bank Ghana Limited, First National Bank Limited and GCB Bank Limited.
The others are OmniBSIC Bank Limited, Prudential Bank Limited, Republic Bank Limited, Stanbic Bank Limited, Standard Chartered Bank (Ghana Limited), Universal Merchant Bank Limited and Zenith Bank (Ghana) Limited.
Even though most banks recorded losses with local banks being the hardest, it is inaccurate to claim that all banks recorded losses in 2022.
Conclusion
The claim that all banks in Ghana recorded losses in 2022 is false.
Did the banks declare losses after tax? I want to know that because the MP was not specific whether the losses were before or after tax. Kindly, fact check that too.