The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said the Bank of Ghana’s (BoG) Domestic Gold Purchase Programme (DGPP) recorded losses above $1.7 billion in 2025, even as it played a key role in rebuilding the country’s foreign reserves and stabilising the Cedi.
In its 2026 Article IV Consultation and draft Policy Coordination Instrument (PCI) report, the Fund noted that the scheme had become the main driver of the central bank’s forex inflows and reserve build-up.
According to the report, the major scale-up of the DGPP produced losses of over $1.7 billion, or 1.5% of Ghana’s gross domestic product. Almost all of it came from buying doré gold under the Gold for Reserves initiative.
“The sharp expansion of DGPP activities resulted in losses exceeding $1.7 billion (1.5% of GDP), almost fully tied to G4R doré purchases. This represented a 17% loss on the value of doré gold sold by the BoG,” the IMF stated.
The Fund said the shortfall stemmed from service and assay charges paid to GoldBod, discounts given on gold sold to buyers, and currency losses caused by the gap between the forex bureau purchase rate and the Cedi reference rate used in the Bank of Ghana’s books.
It added that while some of the losses were due to accounting valuation changes and not direct cash outflows, they still hurt the central bank’s balance sheet and led to subsidies for those who bought forex at the reference rate.
The IMF also pointed out that the figure did not cover the cost of mopping up liquidity from the reserves built through the programme. It noted that the Bank of Ghana ended 2025 with negative equity of 6.7% of GDP.In spite of the cost, the Fund said the programme was critical in improving Ghana’s external buffers.
Gold-related inflows jumped from $1.7 billion in 2023 to $12.7 billion in 2025, including $1.1 billion in net profits from bullion sales. The rise was largely driven by higher purchases from artisanal and small-scale miners.
The IMF said the DGPP was “operationally key” to the eightfold growth in Ghana’s gross international reserves since the start of the Extended Credit Facility programme. Reserves hit $11.9 billion at the end of 2025, equal to roughly four months of import cover and well above programme goals. The stronger reserve position allowed the Bank of Ghana to increase forex sales from $1 billion in 2023 to $10.6 billion in 2025. This boosted market liquidity and aligned with a 41% nominal gain in the Cedi against the US dollar, the report said.
