The opposition New Patriotic Party has called on the government to permanently abandon any consideration of selling the headquarters of the Bank of Ghana, arguing that such a move would be economically unsound and detrimental to taxpayers.
In a statement signed by the Co-Chair of the party’s Finance and Economic Policy Committee, Mohammed Amin Adam, the NPP said recent reports suggesting government was considering a sale-and-leaseback arrangement for the Bank’s headquarters should not be dismissed lightly, despite the central bank’s denial.
The party noted that the idea of selling the building did not originate from media speculation but was first publicly suggested by Finance Minister Cassiel Ato Forson in March 2025, when he proposed that the Bank could “look within” and consider selling and leasing back some of its assets instead of relying on taxpayer funds for recapitalisation.
According to the NPP, selling the Bank’s headquarters and renting it back would not solve the institution’s financial challenges.
The party argued that such a transaction would amount to borrowing against a national asset while saddling the Bank with long-term rental obligations.
The statement claimed that a sale valued at approximately $260 million could generate unusually high returns for a buyer while leaving the Bank exposed to decades of rent payments, inflation-linked increases, and occupancy commitments.
It further warned that the arrangement could weaken rather than strengthen the Bank’s balance sheet because the property, an appreciating asset, would be removed from its books while lease liabilities would remain.
The NPP also raised concerns about a potential conflict of interest, arguing that the central bank regulates many of the financial institutions that could potentially finance or purchase the property.
The party maintained that the appropriate solution to the Bank’s financial difficulties is a credible recapitalisation programme rather than the disposal of strategic national assets.
It noted that government’s own recovery plan for the central bank is expected to run through 2032 and called for a detailed recapitalisation roadmap outlining funding sources, instruments and timelines.
The NPP further urged government to halt policies and practices it believes are worsening the Bank’s financial position and stressed that the Bank Square complex should remain the property of the Ghanaian people.
“The Bank Square belongs to the people of Ghana. It is not a distressed asset to be auctioned to plug a hole that prudent policy should never have created,” the statement said.
The call comes amid public debate over the future of the Bank of Ghana’s headquarters following reports of a possible sale-and-leaseback arrangement and subsequent assurances from the central bank that no such transaction is currently under consideration.
CREDIT: MAVIS FANTEVI
