The $429 million allocation funds GoldBod as Ghana expands a reserve-building strategy shaped by IMF concerns, rising gold exports and a plan to deepen official gold accumulation through 2028.
Ghana allocated 5 billion cedis, or about $429 million, to the Ghana Gold Board in its revised 2026 budget to purchase gold and strengthen foreign-exchange reserves, shifting the financing from the central bank to the government after IMF concerns about quasi-fiscal activity and Bank of Ghana autonomy. GoldBod, created in 2025, is the sole authorized buyer of unrefined gold from artisanal and small-scale miners, taking over a role previously handled by the central bank. The broader reserve strategy, known as the Ghana Accelerated National Reserve Accumulation Policy, targets 15 months of import cover by the end of 2028. Ghana’s gold exports rose from $10.3 billion in 2024 to $21 billion in 2025, while reserves reached a record $14.5 billion in February 2026 before easing to $12.9 billion in June. From July 1, 2026, large-scale miners will be required to sell 30% of their output to GoldBod at a 0.55% discount to the Bank of Ghana’s reference price. Inflation slowed to 5.3% in June 2026. Ghana also legalized cryptocurrency trading in December 2025 and is exploring asset-backed digital settlement instruments including gold-backed stablecoins, though no crypto token is directly tied to the budget allocation.