The National Investment Bank (NIB) has been recapitalised and is now operating with a capital adequacy ratio of 23 per cent, the Finance Minister, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson has said.

He said this during the presentation of the 2025 Mid Year Budget Review in Parliament on Thursday, July 24, 2025.

Dr Forson said the state-owned bank had been brought back from the brink through a government-led restructuring package that included a GH¢450 million cash injection, GH¢1.5 billion in bonds, and the transfer of GH¢500 million worth of government shares in Nestlé Ghana Limited to the bank. The combined measures have increased NIB’s total paid-up capital to GH¢3.4 billion.

“Mr Speaker, by taking these major steps, we have preserved depositors’ funds valued at GH¢6.4 billion. We have also saved over 900 direct jobs at the National Investment Bank. More importantly, we have preserved an indigenous Ghanaian bank,” Dr Forson said.

NIB has experienced persistent losses, high levels of non-performing loans, and internal control weaknesses, which contributed to a steady decline in its financial position. By June 2024, its capital adequacy ratio had dropped to minus 53.13 per cent, well below the Bank of Ghana’s regulatory minimum of 13 per cent. The bank also fell short of several prudential requirements and relied on short-term liquidity support to sustain operations.

Although NIB was not included in the earlier domestic banking sector clean-up between 2017 and 2019, calls for its closure intensified after independent audits flagged solvency risks and questioned its long-term viability. At one point, the Bank of Ghana had warned that without urgent capital support, the bank risked being wound down.

Dr Forson said the new recapitalisation programme is backed by a restructuring plan focused on corporate governance reforms, risk management improvements, and eventual listing on the Ghana Stock Exchange.

“We chose to spend to save a bank, rather than spend to collapse a bank,” he told the House, in reference to the decision to support NIB instead of allowing it to fail.

He added that the government remains committed to protecting public funds and maintaining trust in state-owned financial institutions.

The Minister urged the public to renew confidence in the bank. “NIB is now liquid. NIB is now safe. NIB is fully capitalised. We therefore encourage all and sundry to do business with a revitalised National Investment Bank.”

The government’s intervention forms part of broader efforts to restore stability in the financial sector and rebuild confidence in indigenous banks following years of sector-wide turbulence.