Operational costs from GoldBod, alongside trading shortfalls, have been identified as the major drivers behind losses under the Bank of Ghana’s Gold-for-Reserves (G4R) programme, which climbed to US$214 million within the first nine months of 2025.

The disclosure is contained in the International Monetary Fund’s Fifth Review report on Ghana’s three-year Extended Credit Facility (ECF) programme, which flags the losses as a key downside risk to the country’s broader stabilisation agenda.

According to the Fund, the losses were largely driven by trading losses incurred under the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) doré gold transactions component of the programme, as well as off-takers’ fees linked to GoldBod operations.

“In 2025 through end-Q3, losses from the artisanal and small-scale (ASM) doré gold transactions component of G4R have reached US$214 million, mostly on trading losses but also on GoldBod off-takers’ fees,” the report stated.

IMF warns of “significant downside risks”

Beyond the reported losses, the IMF cautioned that the rapidly expanding scale of the programme, particularly since the creation of GoldBod could expose Ghana to heightened risks. The Fund noted that the “large and increasing scale of the Gold-for-Reserves programme… notably since the creation of GoldBod, is a source of significant downside risks.”

A JoyNews Research assessment explains that the warning reflects growing financial and macroeconomic vulnerabilities. As the programme scales up, it becomes more exposed to losses arising from pricing gaps, execution challenges, service charges, and off-taker discounts. With more gold purchases and more transactions passing through the system, even relatively small inefficiencies can generate outsized losses.

The trend could also place pressure on the Bank of Ghana’s balance sheet and monetary policy credibility if the central bank continues to absorb losses or indirectly finance the programme. In such a situation, confidence in the central bank’s capacity to maintain stability could weaken, potentially affecting market expectations around inflation and currency performance.

Further analysis shows that a programme of this scale also introduces governance and market distortion risks, especially if operations remain opaque or heavily discretionary.

A dominant state intermediary role could reduce market price discovery, crowd out private FX and gold market activity, and sustain parallel market behaviour when official pricing diverges from market realities.

In a transaction-heavy system, stronger transparency, reporting, and controls become essential to limit operational lapses and prevent further financial leakages.

The Fund also stated that the now-discontinued Gold-for-Oil component of the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme losses of $128 million in 2024, 30% of which emanated solely from the sale of US$0.8 billion in gold.  

The report says he BoG’s remaining exposure to BOST is to be offloaded to the government according to an exit strategy adopted by the BoG Board in May 2024.