FinObservatory

Crisis atlas / GHA / 1978–2002

Ghana, 1978–2002

One crisis episode: distinct crisis years merged across gaps of up to two non-crisis years. Types, source agreement, and macro context are drawn from the union of five primary chronologies.

CurrencySovereign debtBanking

Crisis years in this episode

Every distinct (year, type) event inside the 1978–2002 window, with the chronologies flagging it and the count of agreeing sources. Start-year sources (GMD, JST) mark only the first year, so agreement falls in the continuation years.

  1. 1978
    Currencygmd, laeven_valencia, rr3 sources
  2. 1979
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  3. 1982
    Bankinggmd, laeven_valencia, rr3 sources
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  4. 1983
    Bankinglaeven_valencia, rr2 sources
    Currencygmd, laeven_valencia, rr3 sources
  5. 1984
    Bankingrr1 source
    Currencyrr1 source
  6. 1985
    Bankingrr1 source
    Currencyrr1 source
  7. 1986
    Bankingrr1 source
    Currencyrr1 source
  8. 1987
    Bankingrr1 source
    Currencyrr1 source
    Sovereign debtrr1 source
  9. 1988
    Bankingrr1 source
    Currencyrr1 source
  10. 1989
    Bankingrr1 source
    Currencyrr1 source
  11. 1992
    Currencyrr1 source
  12. 1993
    Currencygmd, laeven_valencia, rr3 sources
  13. 1994
    Currencyrr1 source
  14. 1995
    Currencyrr1 source
  15. 1996
    Currencyrr1 source
  16. 1997
    Bankingrr1 source
    Currencyrr1 source
  17. 1998
    Bankingrr1 source
  18. 1999
    Bankingrr1 source
    Currencyrr1 source
  19. 2000
    Currencygmd, laeven_valencia, rr3 sources
  20. 2002
    Currencyrr1 source

Source: Global Macro Database 2026_06 (Müller, Xu, Lehbib & Chen 2025) | Jordà-Schularick-Taylor Macrohistory R6 | Laeven & Valencia (2020, 2026) | Reinhart-Rogoff via HBS BFFS | ECB/ESRB Financial Crises Database Methodology

Laeven-Valencia banking-crisis detail

Episode-level fiscal cost and output loss from the systemic banking crises database. Fiscal cost is the gross outlay of banking-sector rescues; output loss is the cumulative deviation of real GDP from its pre-crisis trend, both as a percent of GDP.

Banking episode 1982–1983
6.0%
Fiscal cost, % of GDP
45.3%
Output loss, % of GDP
1983
Episode end year

Source: Laeven & Valencia (2026), IMF WP/26/94, Systemic Banking Crises Database 1970-2025 Methodology

Macro context, 1971–2009

Seven years either side of the episode. Each panel has its own scale; the crisis window is shaded. Only indicators with data for Ghana in this window are shown. Bank credit growth (year over year in total loans) is available for the 18 Jordà-Schularick-Taylor advanced economies.

Inflation (% y/y)
050100150197119782009
Real GDP growth (% y/y)
-20-10010197119782009
Policy rate (%)
0204060197119782009
Govt debt (% of GDP)
0255075197119782009
Unemployment (%)
051015197119782009
Current account (% of GDP)
-20-10010197119782009

Source: Global Macro Database 2026_06 (Müller, Xu, Lehbib & Chen 2025) | Jordà-Schularick-Taylor Macrohistory R6 (credit) Real GDP growth is derived as the year-over-year change in real GDP; current account and government debt are percent of GDP; policy rate is the central-bank rate; bank credit growth is the year-over-year change in JST total loans. Methodology

How each source dates this episode

The chronologies disagree on start years and durations. This table is generated from the event rows, not curated: it lists, per crisis type, which source flags which years inside the window.

Currency
  • Global Macro Database1978, 1983, 1993, 2000
  • Laeven-Valencia1978, 1983, 1993, 2000
  • Reinhart-Rogoff1978, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002
Sovereign debt
  • Reinhart-Rogoff1979, 1982, 1987
Banking
  • Global Macro Database1982
  • Laeven-Valencia1982, 1983
  • Reinhart-Rogoff1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1997, 1998, 1999

Source: Global Macro Database 2026_06 (Müller, Xu, Lehbib & Chen 2025) | Jordà-Schularick-Taylor Macrohistory R6 | Laeven & Valencia (2020, 2026) | Reinhart-Rogoff via HBS BFFS | ECB/ESRB Financial Crises Database Methodology

Documented policy responses

4 interventions from the Metrick-Schmelzing banking-crisis database whose recorded year falls inside this episode window (1978–2002). Each row is one documented government or central-bank action, tagged with the database’s own intervention categories and short code, under the crisis code it assigns. Matching is exact: same country, intervention year inside the window. The database’s global-crisis rows (no country) are never matched here.

GHA-1982Ghana
  1. Jan-1982Asset managementBBAM
GHA-1990Ghana
  1. 1990Asset managementBBAM
  2. 1990Capital injectionsBBCI
  3. 1990RestructuringRES

Source: Metrick-Schmelzing Banking-Crisis Interventions Database (Yale Program on Financial Stability) Cite as: Metrick, Andrew, and Paul Schmelzing, "Banking-Crisis Interventions Across Time and Space," working paper, 2024 (dataset consulted 2026-07-10). License: Creative Commons attribution. Methodology

Policy-response case studies (external)

For qualitative accounts of how authorities intervened in systemic crises, see the Yale Program on Financial Stability New Bagehot Project, a library of financial-crisis intervention case studies. It is a separate qualitative resource; no specific case is asserted to match this episode.