Market News

ACCRA, Sept 23 (Reuters) – Ghana’s central bank will prioritise rebuilding foreign exchange reserves in the coming months as it navigates a weaker current account, declining reserves and a pause in gold exports by state buyer GoldBod since August, Governor Johnson Asiama said on Wednesday.

• Speaking at the start of the Monetary Policy Committee meeting, Asiama said policymakers would need to balance generally positive domestic conditions against an increasingly uncertain global backdrop shaped by the 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 tons in June 2026 from 33 tons a year earlier, reflecting gold sales in 2025 and lower-than-targeted purchases from large-scale miners.
• Under the 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 bolster reserves and support the cedi.
• In May, Ghana raised the share of annual output that large-scale gold miners must sell to the central bank to 30%, from 20%, as part of a renewed push to build reserves.
• “Rebuilding reserves will be a key priority for the bank in the coming months indeed,” Asiama said.
• Ghana’s economy grew by 6.0% in the second quarter of 2026, down from a revised 6.6% in the same period a year e