Ghana’s gold purchase programme recorded $1.7billion loss in 2025 – IERPP calls for parliamentary probe

The Institute of Economic Research and Public Policy (IERPP) has called for greater transparency and accountability following an International Monetary Fund (IMF) report indicating that Ghana’s Domestic Gold Purchase Programme (DGPP) recorded losses of US$1.7 billion in 2025.

In a press statement issued on Wednesday, the policy think tank said the findings, contained in the IMF’s July 2026 Selected Issues Paper on Ghana (Country Report No. 26/213), raise serious concerns about the financial sustainability of the programme, which has since been integrated into the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod).

According to IERPP, the reported losses represented 1.5 percent of Ghana’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2025, translating into approximately 17 cents lost for every dollar of doré gold sold on the international market.

Losses Increased Fourfold
The institute highlighted that losses under the programme rose sharply from US$400 million in 2024 to US$1.7 billion in 2025, describing the increase as more than four times within a year.

IERPP said the IMF attributed the losses largely to Ghana’s Gold-for-Reserves (G4R) doré purchases, through which the state buys gold from small-scale and artisanal miners.

The think tank further noted that operating costs reached 14.5 percent of the value of gold purchased in 2025—almost three times the government’s stated target of 5 percent.

It also cited the IMF report as indicating that the Bank of Ghana’s shareholders’ equity declined from GH₵6.2 billion in 2021 to negative GH₵93.8 billion by the end of 2025, equivalent to 6.7 percent of GDP.

IERPP acknowledged that the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme was introduced in 2021 under the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration during Ghana’s debt crisis to rebuild foreign reserves and facilitate fuel imports.

However, it argued that while the programme originated under the previous government, its significant expansion occurred between 2024 and 2025, with the IMF report attributing the entire US$1.7 billion loss in 2025 to operations during the current National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration.

According to the institute, losses continued to grow despite improvements in Ghana’s broader macroeconomic conditions.

IERPP also questioned government plans under the Ghana Accelerated National Reserve Accumulation Policy (GANRAP) to increase domestic gold purchases and raise foreign reserves to cover 15 months of imports by 2028.

The institute argued that expanding the programme despite the reported losses could expose the country to even higher fiscal costs.