$1.7 Billion Loss: Ghana Central Bank's Gold-Buying Scheme Takes a Hit

Ghana's central bank lost $1.7 billion in 2025 running its Gold for Reserves (G4R) initiative, a gold-buying scheme aimed at propelling up reserves and strengthening the cedi.

The losses, equivalent to 1.5% of Ghana's gross domestic product, were largely tied to service and assay fees paid to GoldBod, discounts on gold sold to off-takers, and exchange-rate losses arising from the gap between the forex bureau rate used to buy gold and the cedi reference rate.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said while part of the losses reflected accounting valuation effects rather than direct economic costs, they weakened the central bank's balance sheet and led to transfers to recipients of foreign exchange sold at the reference rate.