BoG personnel costs more than double to GH¢3.29bn in three years as staff numbers rise

The Bank of Ghana’s (BoG) personnel costs more than doubled between 2022 and 2025, rising at a significantly faster pace than the central bank’s reported workforce over the same period.

Figures contained in the bank’s annual reports and audited financial statements show that personnel costs increased from GH¢1.62 billion in 2022 to GH¢3.29 billion in 2025, representing growth of about 103 per cent.

By comparison, reported staff strength rose from 2,206 to 2,691 during the same period, an increase of approximately 22 per cent.

The figures show a widening gap between the growth in the bank’s workforce and the cost of maintaining its personnel.

Personnel expenditure increased from GH¢1.26 billion in 2021 to GH¢1.62 billion in 2022, before rising further to GH¢1.96 billion in 2023 and GH¢2.28 billion in 2024.

The sharpest increase occurred in 2025, when personnel costs jumped by 44.4 per cent in one year to GH¢3.29 billion.

Staff numbers also rose during the year, but at a considerably slower pace. The bank’s human-resource report indicates that its workforce increased from 2,368 in 2024 to 2,691 in 2025, representing a 13.6 per cent increase.

The bank said it recruited 395 employees while 72 staff members exited during the year, resulting in a net increase of 323 employees.

The figures suggest that the expansion in the workforce accounts for only part of the increase in personnel expenditure.

Cost per reported employee

Another way of examining the trend is to compare personnel costs with the number of employees reported at the end of each year.

In 2022, personnel costs amounted to approximately GH¢735,000 for every employee reported at year-end. By 2025, the corresponding figure had risen to about GH¢1.22 million, representing an increase of roughly 66 per cent.

That figure should not, however, be treated as the average salary of a Bank of Ghana employee.

Personnel costs are an accounting expense category covering employee-related expenditure, and the published financial statements do not provide sufficient detail to determine how the increase was distributed among salaries, pensions, allowances and other related costs.

The increase also represents a growing component of the bank’s broader operating expenses.

BoG reported GH¢5.22 billion in other operating expenses in 2025, compared with GH¢4.10 billion in 2024. Personnel costs accounted for about 63 per cent of the 2025 figure, up from approximately 56 per cent the previous year.

The GH¢1.01 billion increase in personnel costs also represented roughly 90 per cent of the year-on-year increase in the other operating expenses category.

BoG explains increase

Bank of Ghana Governor Dr Johnson Asiama has attributed the increase partly to changes in the bank’s responsibilities and the need to recruit specialised personnel.

In an interview with Graphic Business, Dr Asiama said the central bank had expanded into areas that had previously received less attention, including virtual asset monitoring, data analytics, artificial intelligence and cyber monitoring.

He said these functions required additional personnel and specialised skills as technology continued to reshape the financial sector.

The Governor also said the bank had to recruit to replace employees who leave through retirement.

According to him, between 54 and 60 employees retire from the bank each year, making recruitment necessary even where there is no overall expansion in the workforce.

The explanation suggests that some of the recruitment during the period was aimed at replacing departing employees while also building capacity in emerging areas of responsibility.

Retaining specialised staff

Dr Asiama also pointed to the cost of attracting and retaining employees with specialised skills.

He said the bank needed to remain competitive in its remuneration because professionals with expertise in technology, data and fintech could move to other employers if their compensation was not competitive.

This provides another explanation for the faster growth in personnel expenditure compared with staff numbers.

Between 2022 and 2025, the bank’s reported workforce grew by about 22 per cent, while personnel costs increased by approximately 103 per cent.

The Governor’s explanation links the difference to recruitment in specialised areas, replacement of retirees and the need to retain skilled personnel.

However, the published figures do not separately indicate how much of the GH¢1.67 billion increase in personnel costs over the period was attributable to new employees, salary adjustments, pensions, allowances or other employee-related expenses.

Recruitment expected to slow

Dr Asiama has also indicated that the pace of recruitment could moderate following the significant intake in 2025.

He said the bank expected the growth in personnel costs to slow from 2026, with future recruitment increasingly aligned with the number of employees retiring each year.

The Governor argued that personnel expenditure should also be assessed in relation to the bank’s overall operational costs rather than by looking only at the absolute figure.

He said the bank’s internal benchmark was for personnel costs to remain below 40 per cent of operational costs and maintained that the current level was below that threshold.

However, the financial statements do not present the specific operational-cost base used for that benchmark in a way that allows the ratio to be independently assessed from the published figures.

For now, the available figures point to a substantial increase in the cost of maintaining the Bank of Ghana’s workforce, with personnel expenditure growing much faster than staff numbers.

The bank’s explanation points to recruitment, retirements, new regulatory and technological responsibilities and competition for specialised skills as factors behind the increase.

The bank’s subsequent financial statements will show whether the expected slowdown in recruitment is accompanied by a moderation in the growth of personnel costs.