Bank of Ghana ends 2025 with international reserves hitting record $13.8bn

• Posted on January 6, 2026January 6, 2026
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) ended 2025 with its international reserves reaching a record $13.8 billion, JoyBusiness has learnt.

Sources say the reserves could have risen to about $14.2 billion if not for Eurobond payments made in December 2025 on behalf of the Ministry of Finance.

JoyBusiness understands that stronger-than-expected government revenue performance in the final quarter of 2025 allowed the Finance Ministry to make a $709 million Eurobond payment ahead of schedule in December.

The payment reduced the Bank of Ghana’s reserves to $13.8 billion by the end of December 2025.

Even so, this means the central bank added about $5 billion to its reserves in 2025, marking one of the strongest annual build-ups on record.

Data from the Bank of Ghana’s November Economic and Financial Data show that as of the end of October 2025, international reserves stood at $11.4 billion, up from $7.4 billion in October 2024.

Market analysts attribute the strong reserve growth to the Bank of Ghana’s reserve accumulation programme and the domestic gold purchase programme, which they say played a key role in boosting reserves.

The record reserve level is expected to support the stability of the Ghana cedi in the near term by strengthening market confidence in the central bank’s capacity to intervene when necessary.

This assurance is particularly important in the first quarter of the year, a period that typically sees increased pressure on the cedi from importers restocking, banks, and listed companies making dividend payments to foreign shareholders.

Sources close to the Bank of Ghana have indicated that measures are in place to manage these seasonal pressures and that they should not pose a major risk to currency stability.

Analysts also believe the stronger reserve position could positively influence Ghana’s credit ratings in the coming months, as it improves the country’s capacity to meet external debt obligations.

In 2025, the Bank of Ghana auctioned about US$10 billion to meet obligations to Independent Power Producers, bondholders, dividend payments and other critical commitments.

Despite these outflows, the reserve build-up programme remained intact, enabling the central bank to close the year with record-high international reserves.

The Bank of Ghana reported that the cedi recorded a cumulative appreciation of 40.67% against the US dollar in 2025, ending the year at about GH¢10.45 to the dollar.

In December, average daily trading on the interbank market stood at US$19.70 million, bringing total monthly trading volume to about US$394 million.