Banks in Ghana recorded a combined profit of GH¢4.6 billion during the first four months of 2026, despite slower growth in some of their major income sources.

The figure represents a 7.1% increase compared with the GH¢4.3 billion recorded during the same period in 2025.

Profit before tax also increased by 5.6% as of April 2026. However, this was significantly lower than the 21.9% growth recorded in April 2025, showing that the pace of profit growth in the banking sector has slowed.

The slowdown was mainly caused by weaker growth in interest income, fees and commissions.

Interest Income Declines

Net interest income, which represents the difference between the interest banks earn and the interest they pay to customers, contracted by 2.2% in April 2026.

This was a major change from the 15.5% growth recorded in April 2025.

The decline was linked to falling lending rates and lower returns on Treasury bills and other money market investments. This means banks earned less interest from loans and short term government securities during the period.

Fees and commissions continued to grow, rising by 15.6% in April 2026. However, this was lower than the 26.2% growth recorded during the same period in 2025.

Other income was the only major income category that recorded stronger growth in April 2026 compared with the previous year.

Slower Growth in Operating Costs Supports Profits

Although income growth slowed, banks were able to protect their profits by keeping operating costs under control.

Operating expenses increased by only 2.1% in April 2026, compared with a much higher increase of 23% in April 2025.

The slower growth in expenses was supported by controlled staff costs and a significant reduction in other operating expenses.

This helped offset the weaker growth in income and contributed positively to the sector’s overall profit.

However, the amount banks set aside to cover depreciation, bad loans and possible losses on financial assets increased sharply.

These provisions rose by 35.1% in April 2026, compared with a decline of 24.2% in April 2025. The increase may suggest that banks are becoming more cautious about the possibility of customers failing to repay loans.

Banking Sector Returns Decline

Despite the increase in total profit, the banking sector’s profitability ratios weakened in April 2026.

Return on Assets declined to 4.3% from 5% in April 2025. Return on Assets measures how effectively banks use their total assets to generate profit.

Return on Equity also fell to 22.4% from 30% in April 2025. This measures the profit banks generate from the money invested by their shareholders.

The decline in these indicators means that banks remained profitable, but they generated lower returns from their assets and shareholder funds compared with the previous year.

Overall, Ghana’s banking sector remained profitable during the first four months of 2026. However, falling interest income, slower growth in fees and commissions, and rising provisions for bad loans placed pressure on the sector’s performance.