Ghana Prioritizes Reserve Rebuilding Amid Gold Export Halt

The Bank of Ghana is prioritizing rebuilding its foreign exchange reserves amid a deteriorating current account and a halt in gold exports by state-owned buyer GoldBod. Governor Johnson Asiama highlighted these concerns during the Monetary Policy Committee meeting.

The country's current account has weakened, and its foreign exchange reserves have shrunk, while gold exports have been suspended since August. This has led to increased demand for foreign exchange in the fourth quarter.

Ghana has implemented a domestic gold purchase programme, which aims to diversify foreign reserves and reduce dependence on foreign currencies. The programme requires large-scale miners to sell 30 percent of their annual output to the central bank at a discounted price.

The Bank of Ghana aims to increase its gold reserves to 157 metric tons by 2028 under the Ghana Accelerated National Reserve Accumulation Programme. The programme has had significant macroeconomic effects, generating over $10 billion in foreign exchange and contributing to a 41 percent appreciation of the cedi against the US dollar.