Ghana Focuses On Rebuilding Reserves

Ghana’s central bank will prioritise rebuilding its foreign exchange reserves in the coming months as it faces a weaker current account, declining reserves and a pause in gold exports by state buyer GoldBod.

Bank of Ghana Governor Johnson Asiama made the disclosure on Wednesday as he opened the Monetary Policy Committee meeting.

Asiama said policymakers would have to balance generally positive domestic conditions against an increasingly uncertain global environment, including the ongoing Middle East conflict and rising oil prices.

“The weaker current account, the decline in reserves, and the pause in gold exports by GoldBod since August… call for a careful look at our buffers ahead of the usual rise in forex demand in the fourth quarter,” he said.

Ghana’s gold reserves fell to 24.4 metric tonnes in June 2026 from 33 tonnes a year earlier, following gold sales in 2025 and lower-than-targeted purchases from large-scale miners, Reuters reported.

Under Ghana’s domestic gold purchase programme, GoldBod aggregates locally produced gold for export and reserve accumulation, with part of the bullion transferred to the central bank to strengthen its reserves and support the cedi.

In May, Ghana increased the proportion of annual gold output that large-scale miners must sell to the central bank to 30%, from 20%, as part of efforts to rebuild its reserves.

“Rebuilding reserves will be a key priority for the bank in the coming months indeed,” Asiama said.

The central bank’s comments come as Ghana’s economy recorded 6.0% growth in the second quarter of 2026, down from a revised 6.6% in the same period a year earlier, according to the Ghana Statistical Service.

The bank is expected to weigh domestic economic conditions against external pressures as it considers monetary policy and the country’s foreign exchange position.