Ghana has ended the Bank of Ghana's financing of domestic gold purchases, forcing the state-owned GoldBod to raise its own funds from commercial banks and gold offtakers.

GoldBod Chief Executive Officer, Sammy Gyamfi disclosed on August 11 that the institution stopped receiving central bank funding in March 2026.

The Bank of Ghana officially terminated the prefinancing arrangement through its auction mechanisms on July 1, 2026.

"We don't want to depend on the Bank of Ghana again as an intermediary raising money for us," Gyamfi said during a Space conversation on X on August 9. "Since March 2026, GoldBod has not received any money from the Bank of Ghana to purchase gold on its behalf".

GoldBod was established in April 2025 under the Ghana Gold Board Act, 2025 (Act 1140), inheriting the buying-agent role previously performed by the Precious Minerals Marketing Company under the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme. For approximately one year, the central bank covered all costs associated with gold aggregation.

The new model shifts that responsibility entirely. GoldBod now mobilises financing directly from commercial banks and gold offtakers to fund its purchases.

The institution has already tested the new approach. On August 3, GoldBod raised $75 million directly from commercial banks, converting the cedi equivalent into dollars within 48 hours without central bank involvement. Gyamfi said the transaction demonstrated that GoldBod can "go into the market, raise the funds and access the foreign exchange it needs without the Bank of Ghana acting as an intermediary".

Bank of Ghana Governor, Dr Johnson Pandit Asiama announced the official cessation at the 131st Monetary Policy Committee meeting in Accra. "With effect from 1 July 2026, the Bank ceased prefinancing the Ghana Gold Board's gold purchases through its auction arrangements," he said.

The Governor noted that the move removes "one source of liquidity injection at a time when private sector credit is expanding rapidly".

The change follows an International Monetary Fund estimate that the Bank of Ghana incurred approximately $1.7 billion in balance-sheet losses under the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme in 2025. GoldBod ended the central bank intermediary arrangement in July 2026 partly to avoid complications with the IMF and establish financial independence.

Despite the losses, Ghana's gold reserves climbed to 19.2 metric tonnes by February 2026, while programme-defined international reserves rose from $7.70 billion to $11.91 billion. The government has set a long-term objective of building reserves equivalent to 15 months of import cover by 2028.

GoldBod and the Ministry of Finance are reviewing the new financing structure to develop a longer-term funding model as the board's gold aggregation and export operations expand. Gyamfi said further adjustments are expected by August 19, 2026.

"GoldBod's growing capacity to generate and mobilise foreign exchange has become increasingly important to commercial banks and businesses that require dollars for their international transactions," Gyamfi said.