{
  "id": 7209763,
  "title": "Banks wrote off GH¢1.23bn as bad debt in half-year-2026",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/14/banks-wrote-off-gh-1-23bn-as-bad-debt-in-half-year-2026",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-14T00:48:36.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Joy Business",
    "slug": "joy-business",
    "url": "https://www.myjoyonline.com/banks-wrote-off-gh%c2%a21-23bn-as-bad-debt-in-half-year-2026/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In the first half of 2026, Ghanaian banks reported writing off GH¢1.23 billion in bad debt, marking a 38% year-on-year increase from the GH¢893.0 million recorded in June 2025. The classification of this provision was attributed to loan losses and depreciation. Despite these write-offs, the asset quality risks in the banking sector remained elevated in June 2026, according to the July 2026 Monetary Policy Report. Nevertheless, the non-performing loan (NPL) ratio showed improvement, falling from 23.1% in June 2025 to 16.1% in June 2026. When adjusted for the provisioned loan loss category, the NPL ratio further reduced from 8.5% to 4.6% over the same period. The total stock of non-performing loans also decreased to GH¢19.9 billion in June 2026, down from GH¢20.7 billion in the previous year. These figures suggest an improvement in credit risk conditions, although vulnerabilities persist in the banking sector's asset quality. The decomposition of non-performing loans (NPLs) continued to be dominated by private sector credit, with its contribution rising to 98.0% in June 2026 from 96.4% a year earlier. Conversely, the share of NPLs linked to the public sector declined to 2.0% from 3.6% during the same period, indicating a sectoral shift towards private sector credit.",
  "summary": "This was 38% year-on-increase over that of GH¢893.0 million recorded in June 2025",
  "key_points": [
    "Ghanaian banks wrote off GH¢1.23 billion in bad debt in H1 2026.",
    "Bad debt write-offs increased by 38% year-on-year.",
    "Non-performing loan ratio improved from 23.1% to 16.1%."
  ],
  "editors_take": "The sharp increase in bad debt write-offs by Ghanaian banks signals persistent asset quality risks, but improving non-performing loan ratios and reduced non-performing loan stocks suggest an easing of credit risk conditions.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "MyJoyOnline Ghana",
        "title": "Banks wrote off GH¢1.23bn as bad debt in half-year-2026",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/14/banks-wrote-off-gh-1-23bn-as-bad-debt-in-half-year-2026-7211535",
        "published": "2026-09-14T00:48:36.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}