Ghana has set aside 5 billion cedis, roughly $429 million, from its revised 2026 budget to buy gold and strengthen its foreign-exchange reserves. The money now flows through the Ghana Gold Board instead of the central bank, a change made after the IMF flagged concerns about the previous arrangement. Reserves hit a record $14.5 billion in February 2026 before pulling back to $12.9 billion by June.
Ghana carved out 5 billion cedis, roughly $429 million, from its revised 2026 budget specifically to buy gold, with the aim of building up the country's foreign-exchange reserves. Central banks worldwide are accumulating the metal.
The allocation flows through the Ghana Gold Board, known as GoldBod, a government entity established in 2025 as the sole authorized buyer of unrefined gold from artisanal and small-scale miners. The central bank used to handle those purchases, but the International Monetary Fund flagged concerns about quasi-fiscal activities and the autonomy of the Bank of Ghana, so the government took over the financing.
Gold exports doubled in a year
Ghana's gold exports more than doubled, climbing from $10.3 billion in 2024 to $21 billion in 2025. Foreign-exchange reserves then hit a record $14.5 billion in February 2026, a milestone the government directly attributes to its gold-buying program. By June, reserves had pulled back to $12.9 billion.
Reserve target set for 2028
The broader strategy carries a name: the Ghana Accelerated National Reserve Accumulation Policy, or GANRAP. Under it, the government wants 15 months of import cover by the end of 2028 and plans to get there primarily through aggressive gold acquisition.
That target comes with an obligation for producers. Starting July 1, 2026, large-scale miners operating in Ghana must sell 30% of their output to GoldBod at a 0.55% discount to the Bank of Ghana's reference price.
Fiscal shift answers IMF pressure
Moving gold purchase financing from the Bank of Ghana to the government budget responds directly to IMF pressure, because the Fund wanted a cleaner separation between fiscal and monetary policy. Ghana's inflation rate meanwhile dropped to 5.3% by June 2026.
Crypto sits at the edge of the plan. Ghana legalized cryptocurrency trading in December 2025, and the government is also actively exploring asset-backed digital settlement instruments, including gold-backed stablecoins. No direct crypto tokens are tied to the $429 million budget allocation.
The reserve slide from $14.5 billion to $12.9 billion in four months suggests the position stays volatile even with active gold accumulation, and the mandatory 30% sale requirement could discourage future mining investment if companies view it as an unpredictable policy lever.
Source: Crypto Briefing
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