The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has advised the Government of Ghana to take direct responsibility for financial losses incurred under the Gold for Reserves (G4R) programme, warning that leaving the costs on the Bank of Ghana’s (BoG) books could undermine the central bank’s core mandate.
Speaking at a press briefing on Thursday, IMF Communications Director Julie Kozack said the losses should be transferred to the national budget to ensure greater transparency and safeguard the independence and effectiveness of the central bank.
According to the IMF, Ghana recorded losses amounting to about US$214 million by the end of the third quarter, largely linked to the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) doré gold component of the programme. The losses stemmed from trading activities, fees and unfavourable exchange rate movements.
Ms Kozack stressed that the recommendation was aimed at strengthening governance and risk management, particularly within the Gold Board–linked channel of the domestic gold purchase system. She explained that the G4R arrangement had quasi-fiscal elements, which made it more appropriate for the costs to be reflected in the government’s balance sheet rather than that of the central bank.
“It is important to ensure that the Bank of Ghana remains well-positioned to deliver on its price stability mandate,” she noted, adding that moving the losses to the budget would enhance accountability and policy clarity.
Despite the challenges, the IMF acknowledged that the Gold for Reserves programme played a role in boosting Ghana’s international reserves and easing pressure on the foreign exchange market during a difficult economic period, as highlighted in the Staff Report for the Fifth Review.
On Ghana’s broader IMF-supported programme, Ms Kozack disclosed that the Fund’s Executive Board had approved a three-month extension of the US$3 billion arrangement to allow sufficient time to complete the final assessment, including a review of data up to the end of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026.
Meanwhile, Bank of Ghana Governor Dr Johnson Pandit Asiama has maintained that the G4R programme remains important to the country’s economic strategy. Appearing before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee earlier this week, he said the focus should be on reforming the scheme rather than abandoning it.
“The programme was introduced to address national challenges. The key issue now is how to make it more efficient,” Dr Asiama said, noting that the Bank had already reduced certain charges and was implementing further reforms to improve performance.
He reiterated that the primary objective of the programme—to build foreign reserves—remains valid, arguing that enhancing efficiency and eliminating weaknesses would yield better outcomes than shutting it down altogether.
