Finance Minister Cassiel Ato Forson has disclosed that Ghana borrowed a total of US$21.7 billion between 2017 and 2024 to support the accumulation of foreign reserves, incurring interest costs amounting to US$3.84 billion over the period.
Addressing Parliament on Wednesday, February 25, while defending the Ghana Accelerated National Reserve Accumulation Policy (GANRAP), Dr. Forson argued that the previous strategy of building reserves through external borrowing and short-term financial instruments placed an unsustainable burden on the country’s finances.
He explained that between 2018 and 2021, government raised about US$11.025 billion from the Eurobond market at interest rates ranging from 7.6 percent to 9.6 percent annually to bolster reserves. According to him, those Eurobond issuances alone cost Ghana approximately US$2.5 billion in interest payments between 2018 and 2022.
Dr. Forson further noted that Ghana continues to service some of these obligations following the 2022 debt default, with US$1.5 billion due to Eurobond holders in 2026 alone.
The Minister also revealed that over the past eight years, the Bank of Ghana relied heavily on swaps, sale and buy-back arrangements (SBBs), and other short-term facilities to shore up external buffers. In 2022, 2023 and 2024, the central bank accumulated about US$3 billion, US$2 billion and US$650 million respectively through swaps and SBBs, at interest costs of US$615 million, US$476 million and US$67 million.
“In those three years alone, from 2022 to 2024, the Bank of Ghana accumulated US$5.65 billion from swaps and sale and buy-backs at a cost of US$1.16 billion in interest payments only,” Dr. Forson told the House.
He added that between 2018 and 2021, the central bank also borrowed US$2 billion from international commercial banks, including JPMorgan Chase, Standard Chartered and Citibank, at a cost of US$182 million.
Despite these substantial borrowings between 2017 and 2022, the Finance Minister argued that the measures failed to stabilise the cedi, leading to significant depreciation and depletion of reserves.
“It is obvious that borrowing to support reserves accumulation is unsustainable and leads to high debt distress and debt overhang,” he stressed.
In contrast, Dr. Forson pointed to what he described as a more cost-effective approach under GANRAP, anchored on the operations of the Ghana Gold Board. He disclosed that the Gold Board mobilised about US$10 billion in foreign exchange in 2025 at a cost of US$214 million to support reserve accumulation.
He argued that if government had borrowed the same US$10 billion at a yield of 8 percent in 2025, Ghana would have paid approximately US$800 million in interest in just one year.
According to the Minister, the cost of accumulating reserves through the Ghana Gold Board in 2025 was significantly lower than the interest expenses incurred under the Bank of Ghana’s swaps and sale and buy-back arrangements in 2022 and 2023.
Dr. Forson maintained that GANRAP represents a strategic shift toward a more sustainable path for strengthening Ghana’s external buffers while reducing reliance on high-cost debt.
