IMF: Bank of Ghana’s Gold Purchase Programme Recorded $1.7bn Loss in 2025

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has revealed that the Bank of Ghana’s Domestic Gold Purchase Programme (DGPP) recorded losses exceeding $1.7 billion in 2025, despite significantly strengthening the country’s foreign exchange reserves and supporting the appreciation of the Cedi.

In its 2026 Article IV Consultation and proposed Policy Coordination Instrument (PCI) report, the IMF said the DGPP had become the Bank of Ghana’s primary source of foreign exchange inflows and reserve accumulation.

According to the Fund, the rapid expansion of the programme resulted in losses of more than $1.7 billion, representing 1.5% of Ghana’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), with nearly all of the losses arising from the purchase of doré gold under the Gold for Reserves (G4R) initiative.

“The significant scaling up of DGPP operations led to losses of over $1.7 billion (1.5% of GDP), almost entirely related to G4R doré purchases; this amounted to a loss of 17% of the value of doré gold sold by the BoG,” the IMF stated.

The report attributed the losses to several factors, including service and assay fees paid to GoldBod, discounts granted on gold sales to off-takers, and exchange rate losses caused by the difference between the foreign exchange bureau rate used to purchase gold and the Cedi reference rate applied in the Bank of Ghana’s accounting.

The IMF also noted that while part of the losses reflected accounting valuation effects rather than direct economic costs, they nonetheless weakened the central bank’s balance sheet and resulted in transfers to recipients of foreign exchange sold at the official reference rate.

In addition, the Fund said the reported losses exclude the cost of sterilising the reserves accumulated under the programme. It further indicated that the Bank of Ghana’s negative equity stood at 6.7% of GDP at the end of 2025.

Despite these costs, the IMF acknowledged that the DGPP had played a critical role in improving Ghana’s external position.

The report noted that gold-related inflows surged from $1.7 billion in 2023 to $12.7 billion in 2025, including $1.1 billion in net gains from bullion sales, largely driven by increased purchases from the artisanal and small-scale mining sector.

The Fund added that the programme had been “operationally central” to the eightfold increase in Ghana’s gross international reserves since the start of the IMF-supported Extended Credit Facility (ECF) programme. Gross reserves reached $11.9 billion by the end of 2025—equivalent to about four months of import cover and well above programme targets.

According to the IMF, the stronger reserve position also enabled the Bank of Ghana to increase foreign exchange sales from $1 billion in 2023 to $10.6 billion in 2025, boosting market liquidity and coinciding with a 41% nominal appreciation of the Cedi against the US dollar.