Lessons from the Bank of Ghana's Domestic Gold Purchase Programme

This paper examines the legacy of the Bank of Ghana's Domestic Gold Purchase Programme, which helped formalize artisanal gold exports, rebuild reserves, and support foreign exchange market stabilization during Ghana's debt crisis. The programme scaled rapidly, making gold-related flows central to reserve accumulation and FX sales, but also generated sizable losses for the Bank of Ghana and exposed quasi-fiscal risks. With operations transferred to GoldBod, future gold sector policy should focus on reducing operational costs, strengthening transparency, improving responsible sourcing, and managing the macroeconomic, fiscal, and environmental risks from Ghana's expanding gold sector.