The Ghana Gold Board (GOLDBOD) and the government must carefully reconsider how Ghana’s domestic gold purchase programme is financed to reduce its cost and increase its benefits, the International Monetary Fund’s Resident Representative to Ghana, Dr Adrian Alter, has said.
Dr Alter said financing the programme should not be the responsibility of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), arguing that the central bank must remain focused on its core responsibility of maintaining price stability.
His comments came amid concerns about losses recorded by the Ghana Gold Board. He was speaking on Channel One TV on Monday, August 24.
“The independence of the Bank of Ghana, stating that central bank independence is key.
“When you talk about fiscal dominance, basically lending to the government, you need an independent central bank; the BoG should not lend to government entities; they should get financing from the markets, from the commercial banks.
“Basically, the operations have moved from BoG to GOLDBOD, both buying and selling gold and therefore the government, together with GOLDBOD, we need to think thoroughly about the financing model, about how to minimise the cost and at the same time maximise the benefits of this programme. ”
The financing of the domestic gold purchase programme has consequently shifted from the Bank of Ghana to GOLDBOD, which is responsible for buying and selling gold under the new arrangement.
Dr Alter said the IMF wanted the central bank to concentrate on its primary mandate rather than becoming involved in fiscal operations or providing loans to government agencies.
He said government entities should instead raise funds through the financial markets and commercial banks. The Bank of Ghana could also seek capital from those sources, he added.
The IMF representative acknowledged the importance of gold to Ghana’s economy. He said the commodity had played a significant role in increasing export proceeds, while the stabilisation of the cedi had helped the country rebuild its reserves.
However, he warned that the benefits of the programme needed to be assessed alongside its financial and institutional costs. Governance, transparency and reporting would all require careful attention, he said.
“The lessons from the domestic gold purchase programme: we also need to be very careful about governance, transparency, reporting and care about the cost incurred by the programme.
“The IMF analysis basically shows that the DGPP, throughout its history, has led to significant losses to the BoG, which ended up with equity of negative 7% at the end of 2025; part of that was driven by DGPP,” he said.
Dr Alter said the losses had affected the Bank of Ghana’s balance sheet and underlined why the central bank should not be directly involved in activities he classified as fiscal in nature.
“The main point here is that the central bank, it cannot be involved in these activities because it is fiscal activity; its balance sheet is deteriorating, which basically can interfere with its primary mandate, which is price stability.
“How it can interfere is basically that the central bank has operational costs, it has costs for sterilisation, and if it decides that this is too expensive, then it affects its balance sheet. We want them to maintain price stability as their primary objective.”
He said the government and GOLDBOD therefore needed to develop a financing structure that would limit the pressure on public finances while preserving the programme’s economic advantages.
