Ghana’s international reserves have remained resilient in 2025 despite heavy foreign exchange interventions aimed at supporting the cedi and meeting rising dollar demand.
According to Bank of Ghana (BoG) data cited by local media reports, about $10 billion was sold to banks and businesses between January and the first week of December — nearly four times the total injected in 2024. Last year, the BoG sold $3 billion, up from $1 billion in 2023.
Despite the scale of interventions, reserves climbed from $9.1 billion at the end of 2024 to $11.4 billion by October 2025, aided by a historic gold rally. Gold prices exceeded the $4,000 mark in early October, supporting the central bank’s Domestic Gold Purchase Programme, a major source of the intervention funds.
Officials say proceeds from the programme are split between market support, reserve accumulation and upcoming external debt obligations, allowing the BoG to intervene without weakening its overall external position. They add that the forex injections form part of a broader strategy to tackle dollar shortages, rather than a scheme solely designed to defend the cedi, according to local media reports.
If inflows and the gold rally continue, market participants expect reserves to close the year above $12 billion. “Reserve accumulation and intermediation objectives will be achieved through transparent and well-communicated operations,” the BoG said in a recent statement.
Cedi gains 13.9% in October
Market conditions shifted notably in October, when the BoG sold about $1.15 billion under its FX intermediation scheme — one of its largest single-month interventions. The move coincided with improved sentiment, helping the cedi appreciate 13.9% against the dollar during the month and 32.2% year-to-date, according to central bank data.
Last month, the BoG announced a new Foreign Exchange Operations Framework to formalise its market interventions. The framework has three core objectives: support reserve accumulation, reduce short-term volatility, and ensure foreign-exchange flows are intermediated transparently and in a market-neutral manner.
The central bank said interventions will follow a “structured discretion-under-constraint” approach, meaning operations will be conducted only to address liquidity gaps or market dysfunction, rather than to target a particular exchange rate.
Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recommended that the BoG scale back its involvement in the FX market and allow greater exchange rate flexibility, citing the risks of heavy intervention.
The IMF’s advice underscores concerns that sustained large-scale dollar sales could put pressure on reserves and the cedi if commodity inflows weaken.
