Amin Adam raises sovereign-bank nexus concerns as banks hold GH¢190bn in government debt

Former Finance Minister Dr Mohammed Amin Adam has raised concerns about the growing exposure of Ghana’s banking system to government debt, warning that increased reliance on domestic banks could deepen the link between sovereign risk and financial-sector stability. His analysis found that banking-system holdings of central-government domestic debt increased from GH¢148.7 billion in January to GH¢190.1 billion in July 2026, a rise of GH¢41.3 billion. Deposit money banks accounted for GH¢36.2 billion of that increase, while their share of domestic debt rose from 26.5% to 31.9%. The figures suggest that domestic banks absorbed roughly two-thirds of the net increase in domestic debt during the seven months. Dr Amin Adam acknowledged that domestic investors could provide a stable source of government financing, especially when access to external commercial borrowing was limited, but said the concentration of exposure carried risks. “This deepens the sovereign-bank nexus,” he wrote, explaining that banks could benefit from liquid collateral and interest income while becoming more vulnerable to changes in government debt valuations, restructuring and payment risks. He warned that rising exposure to government securities could also constrain credit available to private businesses. He called for more transparent debt issuance and competitive pricing to strengthen the domestic market without placing excessive pressure on bank balance sheets. Dr Amin said the durability of Ghana’s debt recovery should be assessed not only by the size of the debt stock but also by how financing risks were distributed across the financial system.