15 banks line up to finance GoldBod's gold purchases

Fifteen commercial banks have expressed interest in financing gold purchases by the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), as the state gold trader turns to the financial market for working capital following the end of direct funding from the Bank of Ghana (BoG). The banks have submitted letters of interest to participate in a funded foreign exchange forward arrangement being developed by GoldBod to finance domestic gold purchases. GoldBod requires sufficient working capital to finance three to four weeks of artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) gold purchases, with the Bank of Ghana previously putting the requirement at between GH¢15 billion and GH¢20 billion. GoldBod Chief Executive Officer, Sammy Gyamfi, disclosed the interest from the banks at the Government Accountability Series on Wednesday, August 19, 2026. “So far, we’ve received 15 letters from 15 commercial banks who have expressed interest in the funded FX forward sale arrangement, and we believe that more will join,” he said. GoldBod has already piloted the arrangement, raising US$75 million from commercial banks on August 3 to finance gold purchases. Gyamfi said the funds were used to purchase gold and the transaction was settled within 48 hours without recording a loss. The arrangement provides another source of short-term funding for GoldBod, which has to pay licensed aggregators and other suppliers before purchased gold is exported and the corresponding foreign exchange proceeds are received. Participating banks would finance the short-term purchases against expected foreign-exchange proceeds from GoldBod’sexports. The pricing, individual bank limits and other commercial terms have not been disclosed. Ghana’s growing ASM gold trade has increased the amount of working capital required to sustain purchases through the formal market. ASM gold exports reached about 104 tonnes valued at approximately US$10.8 billion in 2025, up from about 63 tonnesin 2024. The Bank of Ghana said in March that GoldBod was expected to mobilize between GH¢15 billion and GH¢20 billion in working capital, equivalent to about three to four weeks of ASM gold purchases. Government has provided about GH¢4.5 billion in seed capital, with GoldBod turning to international gold buyers, licensed aggregators and commercial banks for additional financing. Sammy Gyamfi said the agency mobilized close to US$839 million from international gold off-takers between March and May through advance-funding arrangements. Under the arrangement, buyers provided funds ahead of gold deliveries, allowing GoldBod to finance domestic purchases before supplying the corresponding gold. GoldBod has separately combined its seed capital with working capital from licensed aggregators to finance purchases. According to Gyamfi, one transaction under that arrangement generated US$164 million, while another generated approximately US$270 million. Those two transactions, together with the US$75 million commercial-bank pilot, amounted to about US$509 million in financing through the aggregator-supported and commercial-bank arrangements. The financing model differs from the previous Domestic Gold Purchase Programme (DGPP), under which the Bank of Ghana provided funds for gold purchases, with GoldBod and its predecessor acting as purchasing agents for the central bank. GoldBod says it stopped receiving funds from the BoG for gold purchases in March 2026 and has since assumed responsibility for mobilizing the capital required for its trading operations. Under the earlier arrangement, the BoG financed purchases as principal and ultimately took ownership of the gold acquired through the programme. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) reported that the BoGpurchased US$7.6 billion worth of gold under the DGPP between January and August 2025, including about US$5 billion of ASM doré gold purchased between April and August. The Fund subsequently raised concerns over quasi-fiscal risks associated with the programme and called for the DGPP to be fully transferred to GoldBod to limit such activities on the central bank’s balance sheet. Ghana also temporarily breached an IMF programme ceiling on BoG claims on central government and public entities following cost-sharing arrangements associated with the DGPP. The IMF subsequently granted a waiver after corrective measures were taken. Responsibility for raising the working capital required for ASM gold purchases now rests with GoldBod rather than the central bank. Commercial banks can provide financing to GoldBod, but any facilities would remain subject to BoG’s prudential requirements, including rules governing credit exposures, liquidity and foreign-exchange positions. The change does not end BoG’s involvement in the country’s gold and foreign-exchange programme. Foreign exchange generated from GoldBod’s exports can still be sold to the central bank under existing arrangements, enabling BoG to continue accumulating reserves without providing the initial working capital for GoldBod’s purchases. The commercial-bank financing arrangement is, however, yet to move beyond the US$75 million pilot. Gyamfi said the funded FX-forward model has been temporarily suspended while the Ministry of Finance leads consultations following concerns raised by BoG over the arrangement. The nature of the central bank’s concerns and the amounts each of the 15 interested banks could provide have not been disclosed yet. Further commercial-bank participation will depend on the outcome of the consultations and the final structure approved for the transactions. If approved, the arrangement would add commercial-bank financing to GoldBod’s existing funding sources, which include government seed capital, advance payments from gold off-takers and funding from licensed aggregators. GoldBod’s working-capital requirement is estimated at GH¢15 billion to GH¢20 billion, with the 15 interested banks expected to provide an additional funding channel for the agency’s gold purchases once the arrangement receives regulatory clearance. Source: economytimesnews.com
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