S&P Global warns Ghana faces high fiscal costs for building reserves — MyJoyOnline
Rating agency S&P Global has warned that Ghana’s strategy of simultaneously accumulating foreign exchange reserves and gold requires significant fiscal expenditures and could offset the recent improvement in public finances. As MyJoyOnline reports, spending in the national currency to implement the Ghana Accelerated National Reserves Accumulation Program could amount to between 0.8% and 2.6% of the country’s annual GDP.
Costs of accumulating reserves
According to the agency’s assessment, the gold mining sector is helping Ghana increase its reserves, but the implementation of the GANRAP program is associated with high costs for the state in local currency. The authorities are reforming the regulatory and tax regimes in the gold sector, including moving to a dynamic royalty model with a variable rate, in order to reduce fiscal costs.
S&P Global noted that the expected fiscal effect of these changes could be partly offset by external shocks. Among them, the agency cited rising international fuel prices due to the war in the Middle East.
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Central bank condition and inflation
The agency also drew attention to a significant deterioration in the balance sheet of the Bank of Ghana. In 2025, the central bank recorded an operating loss of $1.25 billion, while its negative equity amounted to 6.7% of GDP. The government launched a phased program to restore the bank’s capital by 2032, but S&P Global believes that this will likely require additional government borrowing.
Inflation in Ghana fell to 5% in August 2026, compared with 54.1% in December 2022. At the same time, prices have begun to rise again in recent months. According to S&P Global’s assessment, the country’s economy is showing relative resilience to the economic impact of the war in the Middle East, but rising input costs, largely linked to higher fuel and transport prices, are already beginning to affect it.
