The Bank of Ghana (BoG) closed 2025 with its international reserves reaching a historic high of $13.8 billion, JoyBusiness has learnt.
Sources indicate the reserves could have climbed to about $14.2 billion but for Eurobond payments made in December 2025 on behalf of the Ministry of Finance.
According to JoyBusiness, stronger-than-anticipated government revenue performance in the final quarter of 2025 enabled the Finance Ministry to make a $709 million Eurobond payment ahead of schedule in December, reducing the central bank’s reserves to $13.8 billion by year-end.
Despite this outflow, the BoG still added approximately $5 billion to its reserves in 2025, marking one of the strongest annual reserve build-ups in its history.
Figures from the Bank of Ghana’s November Economic and Financial Data show that international reserves stood at $11.4 billion at the end of October 2025, up sharply from $7.4 billion in October 2024.
Market analysts attribute the robust reserve growth to the central bank’s reserve accumulation strategy and the domestic gold purchase programme, both of which significantly boosted foreign assets.
The record reserve position is expected to support near-term stability of the Ghana cedi by reinforcing market confidence in the Bank of Ghana’s ability to intervene when necessary.
This reassurance is particularly critical in the first quarter of the year, a period typically characterised by heightened demand for foreign exchange from importers restocking, banks, and listed firms paying dividends to foreign shareholders.
Sources close to the central bank say measures have been put in place to manage these seasonal pressures, noting that they are unlikely to pose a significant threat to currency stability.
Analysts also believe the improved reserve position could positively affect Ghana’s credit ratings in the coming months by strengthening the country’s capacity to meet external debt obligations.
In 2025, the Bank of Ghana auctioned about $10 billion to meet commitments to Independent Power Producers, bondholders, dividend payments, and other critical obligations. Despite these outflows, the reserve accumulation programme remained on track, allowing the central bank to end the year with record-high reserves.
The Bank of Ghana further reported that the cedi recorded a cumulative appreciation of 40.67% against the US dollar in 2025, closing the year at approximately GH¢10.45 to the dollar.
In December, average daily interbank market trading stood at $19.70 million, bringing total trading volume for the month to about $394 million.
