Ghana’s external reserves have seen about 11.5% increase in the last few months. This comes after the Central Bank in January announced during the 128th MPC meeting that the country’s reserve had hit $13 billion.

However, in about 2 months, the external reserves have recorded a notable increase, reaching approximately $14.5 billion, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) Governor, Dr Johnson Pandit Asiama, said, providing about 5.8 months of import cover and strengthening the country’s external position.

The increase, according to BoG, helps maintain and build buffers to support the economy against external shocks.

Speaking during the opening of the 129th MPC meeting on Monday, March 16, Governor Dr Johnson Pandit Asiama indicated that the increase in reserves indicates a broader trend of improvement in macroeconomic conditions, i.e., Ghana’s economy is currently doing better than earlier predictions suggested.

He noted that inflation has continued to ease, declining to 3.3 per cent in February and extending a streak of 14 consecutive monthly reductions. The rate has now fallen below the central bank’s medium-term target band, presenting new considerations for policymakers.

The Governor also cited the economy’s improved fiscal performance, with Ghana recording a primary surplus of 2.6 per cent of GDP at the end of 2025. He added that economic activity in the real sector is gradually picking up, supported by rising business and consumer confidence as well as a modest recovery in credit growth.

“Taken together, these indicators suggest that the economy is stabilising faster than many anticipated, underscoring the impact of disciplined policy measures,” he said.

About two years ago, investor confidence in the Ghanaian economy was relatively weak, due to fiscal stress, high inflation, and currency volatility; however, according to records, lately, there has been development with economic indicators showing growth and a consecutive decline in inflation.

Consequently, Dr Johnson believes that the growth of Ghana’s external reserves will help attract investors and maintain their confidence to help sustain fiscal growth in the country.

“A stronger reserves position is essential for maintaining investor confidence and enhancing Ghana’s ability to withstand global economic shocks”, he noted.

He further disclosed that reserve accumulation will remain a priority under the government’s Ghana Accelerated National Reserve Accumulation Programme (GANRAP), which aims to significantly boost the country’s external buffers over the medium term.

“Reserve accumulation will remain a priority under the government’s Ghana Accelerated National Reserve Accumulation Programme (GANRAP), which aims to significantly boost the country’s external buffers over the medium term. The initiative targets an increase in reserves to the equivalent of 50 months of import cover by 2028, compared with the current level of about 5.8 months”, he continued.

However, Dr Asiama cautioned that such ambitious programmes require careful coordination, noting that they could have implications for liquidity conditions, the central bank’s balance sheet and the conduct of monetary policy.

Despite the positive indicators, he emphasised that the MPC’s task goes beyond acknowledging improvements, as it must also consider how to sustain the gains amid global uncertainties.

He warned that rising tensions in the Middle East are already affecting global energy markets and shipping routes, increasing the risk of imported inflation for Ghana and posing fresh challenges for economic management.

GANRAP - 2026-2028

In late February, the Minister of Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, unveiled Ghana’s first-ever comprehensive national policy specifically designed to deliberately and sustainably build the country’s external reserves and secure long-term macroeconomic stability.

Presenting the Ghana Accelerated National Reserve Accumulation Policy (GANRAP) (2026–2028) to Parliament, the minister described the initiative as a historic and strategic shift in how Ghana manages its external buffers, moving away from costly borrowing and short-term reserve-building measures toward a structured, gold-backed and reform-driven accumulation framework.

Strong Economic FoundationDr Forson told Parliament that the policy builds on the decisive macroeconomic turnaround achieved in 2025 following the 2022–2023 crisis.

Key indicators at the end of 2025 included

Real GDP growth averaged 6.1% in the first three quarters of 2025, inflation declined sharply from 23.8% in 2024 to 5.4% and further to 3.8% in January 2026, the 91-day Treasury bill rate fell from 27.7% at end-2024 to 6.4% in February 2026, public debt declined from 61.8% of GDP to 45.3%, and gross international reserves rose to US$13.8 billion, equivalent to 5.7 months of import cover, up from 4.0 months in 2024.

Despite these gains, the Minister cautioned that the traditional benchmark of three months of import cover is no longer sufficient in today’s volatile global environment.

Target: 15 Months of Import Cover by 2028Under GANRAP, the government is targeting an ambitious increase in reserves to the equivalent of 15 months of import cover by end-2028.

The policy sets intermediate milestones of:

8.6 months by end-2026, 11.8 months by end-2027, 15 months by end-2028.

The Minister described the target as the creation of an “economic war chest” to shield Ghana against commodity price shocks, global financing volatility, geopolitical tensions and climate-related disruptions.

Gold as the Strategic Anchor

Central to the policy is a deliberate gold-backed reserve accumulation strategy anchored on the Ghana Gold Board Act, 2025 (Act 1140), which mandates the Ghana Gold Board to generate foreign exchange and support gold reserve accumulation by the Bank of Ghana.

The government has set an operational weekly gold purchase target of approximately 3.02 tonnes.

This will be achieved through: Acquisition of at least 2.45 tonnes weekly from the Artisanal Small-Scale Mining (ASM) sector, Invocation of pre-emption rights to secure a minimum of 0.57 tonnes weekly from the large-scale mining sector.

The gold acquired will be refined, added to Ghana’s physical reserves, and may only be sold with prior approval of Cabinet and Parliament.

Ending Costly Borrowing for Reserves

The Minister noted that between 2017 and 2024, Ghana relied heavily on Eurobonds, swaps, sale-and-buy-back transactions and commercial bank borrowing to build reserves at significant cost.

From 2022 to 2024 alone, the Bank of Ghana accumulated US$5.65 billion in reserves through swaps and related transactions at a cost of US$1.16 billion in interest.

Additionally, Eurobond borrowings between 2018 and 2021 to support reserve build-up cost taxpayers about US$2.5 billion in interest payments alone, with Ghana still servicing these debts.

Dr Forson stressed that borrowing to accumulate reserves is unsustainable and contributed to the 2022 debt distress.

In contrast, he revealed that in 2025 alone, the Ghana Gold Board generated approximately US$10 billion in foreign exchange at a cost of US$214 million, significantly lower than the cost of comparable borrowing.

Broader Structural Reforms

Beyond gold, the policy integrates structural reforms aimed at expanding foreign exchange inflows and reducing persistent outflows.

These include: scaling up non-traditional exports, revitalising cocoa productivity, implementing the National Policy on Integrated Oil Palm Development, accelerating new oil field developments such as Pecan, and conserving foreign exchange through a Gas-to-Power Transformation Policy.

The Minister emphasised that maintaining fiscal discipline and sustaining a primary surplus remain critical to protecting the gains achieved.

Safeguarding Ghana’s FutureDr. Forson concluded by urging Parliament to support what he described as a historic and forward-looking policy framework designed to strengthen Ghana’s first line of defence against external shocks.