Dr Ernest Addison, Governor of the Bank of Ghana
•BoG will soon start purchasing gold from the local market
•This forms part of the BoG’s plan to shore up its reserve
•This marks the first time the bank is embarking on such a move
In the coming days, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) will be purchasing gold from the local market to help shore up its reserves.
This marks the first time the Bank of Ghana is embarking on domestic gold purchasing to augment foreign reserves.
The central bank hopes to double Gold holdings in its foreign exchange reserves portfolio in the next five years.
According to the governor of the BoG, Dr Ernest Addison, the bank’s foreign reserves has grown steadily over the last fifteen (15) years to current levels of almost US$11.00 billion.
However, the portion of gold reserves has remained unchanged at 8.77 tonnes, with 3 the average value of gold reserves held as a percentage of Gross International Reserves (GIR) at 6.14 percent.
Dr. Addison believes that the domestic gold purchase programme will “pave the way for BOG to grow its foreign exchange reserves to foster confidence, enhances currency stability, creates a more attractive environment for foreign direct investments and economic growth.
It will also enable the Bank leverage its gold holdings to raise cheaper sources of financing to provide short-term foreign exchange liquidity”, he said
Below is the BoG governor’s speech;