The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has defended its appointment of KPMG as external auditor for its 2025 financial statements, dismissing public suspicion about the change as unfounded and insisting the move reflects standard corporate governance practice rather than any attempt to shape the audit outcome.
Bernard Otabil, the BoG’s Director of Communications, made the clarification during an appearance on Channel One TV’s Face to Face on Tuesday, May 5, responding directly to critics who described the switch as suspicious given the central bank’s GH¢15.6 billion loss disclosed in the same accounts.
The change of external auditors was driven by a regulatory requirement for auditor rotation every five years, with the new auditors requesting additional time to review key areas including the BoG’s gold operations and its exposure to the Ghana Gold Board, contributing to a one-month extension of the filing deadline to April 30, 2026.
Otabil argued that long-term familiarity between an auditor and an organisation can become a liability rather than an asset, potentially leading to repetitive techniques that reduce the capacity to identify significant issues. He rejected suggestions that auditors could be selected to deliver a preferred outcome for the client institution. “The work that auditors do must be properly and thoroughly done to the point where they give an opinion,” he said.
The outcome of KPMG’s work supports that position. KPMG issued an unmodified audit opinion on the 2025 financial statements, approved by the BoG Board on April 29, 2026, confirming that the accounts were fairly presented in all material respects. However, the auditors did not give the accounts a clean bill of health in every regard.
KPMG identified impairment on investment securities as a critical audit matter, noting that the BoG’s investments measured at amortised cost exceeded GH¢116 billion, with an expected credit loss allowance estimated at approximately GH¢17.26 billion. The auditors also flagged a 340 percent surge in contingent liabilities from pending legal suits, which rose from GH¢107.65 million at the end of 2024 to GH¢477.96 million by December 31, 2025.
The Parliamentary Minority has added a separate layer of scrutiny to the accounts, arguing that KPMG itself flagged that the financial statements were prepared under the BoG’s own internal policies rather than International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), which the Minority said undermined the credibility of the reported figures.
Otabil maintained that auditing is governed by stringent professional standards designed to guarantee impartiality, and that the BoG’s practices align fully with both institutional policy and established professional norms. A government-backed recapitalisation plan spanning 2026 to 2032 remains in place to address the bank’s negative equity position over time.
