Ghana's central bank, the Bank of Ghana (BoG), recorded substantial losses of $1.7 billion in 2025 due to its domestic gold-buying program, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) revealed. This figure, equivalent to 1.5% of Ghana's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), is eight times higher than the previously reported loss of $214 million for a component of the program in the third quarter of 2025. The losses, primarily from G4R doré purchases, represented 17% of the value of doré gold sold by the BoG and contributed to its negative equity standing at 6.7% of GDP by the end of 2025.
The IMF report detailed that the losses stemmed from several factors. These included service and assay fees paid to the newly established Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), discounts offered on gold sold to off-takers or exporters, and exchange rate losses. The exchange rate losses arose from the discrepancy between the forex bureau rate used to purchase gold and the cedi reference rate used for the BoG's accounting. While some of these are valuation effects rather than direct economic costs, they nevertheless weakened the central bank's balance sheet.
Despite the significant financial losses, the IMF acknowledged that the domestic gold-buying program, which started in 2024, contributed to macroeconomic stability by strengthening the cedi and rebuilding foreign exchange reserves. To mitigate future financial risks, Ghana transferred responsibility for the program to GoldBod on July 1, 2026, ending the Bank of Ghana's direct involvement. This change is expected to significantly reduce operating costs, with transaction costs projected to fall from 14.5% in 2025 to 5.4%.
In 2024, the gold-for-reserves program had already generated losses of $128 million (0.1% of GDP) from its G4O component, with 30% of these losses attributed to the sale of $0.8 billion in gold. The IMF emphasized that while gold purchases aided macroeconomic stability, future policies must prioritize limiting financial losses and enhancing transparency.
