By: OrePulse

Ghana's central bank will make rebuilding its foreign-exchange reserves a top priority in the coming months, Governor Johnson Asiama said on September 23, as a weakening current account and a months-long pause in state gold exports strain the country's buffers.

Asiama said the combination of a softer current account, falling reserves and the suspension of gold exports by state buyer GoldBod since August "calls for a careful look at our buffers ahead of the usual rise in forex demand in the fourth quarter." He said, "Rebuilding reserves will be a key priority for the bank in the coming months indeed."

Ghana's gold reserves dropped to 24.4 metric tons by June 2026, down from 33 tons a year earlier, a decline the central bank linked to gold sales in 2025 and to central-bank purchases from large-scale miners that fell below target. Gold holdings are a core part of Ghana's foreign reserve position, alongside conventional foreign-currency assets.

GoldBod, the state entity responsible for buying and exporting Ghana's gold output, has paused exports since August, removing a revenue stream the central bank normally relies on to support the cedi and its reserve position. Asiama's remarks did not specify when GoldBod's exports are expected to resume.

In May, Ghana's government moved to increase, from 20% to 30%, the minimum share of each year's gold production that large-scale miners are required to sell directly to the central bank, a change intended to steer more gold into official reserves by giving the bank first claim on more of the country's output. That policy shift predates the current GoldBod export pause. It reflects a broader push by the authorities to build up the country's reserve position through domestic gold purchases rather than relying solely on open-market activity or export proceeds.

Reserve pressure comes even as Ghana's broader economy continues to expand, albeit more slowly. Gross domestic product expanded 6.0% in this year's second quarter, compared with a revised 6.6% pace in the equivalent quarter of 2025, suggesting the strain on reserves and the current account has not yet translated into a broader economic slowdown, even as it complicates the central bank's near-term balance-sheet management.

Ghana is Africa's largest gold producer, and investors and mining companies negotiating offtake and royalty terms with the government closely watch the central bank's reserve position. A sustained export pause combined with a reserve drawdown points to fiscal strain that could weigh on the cedi and complicate those negotiations heading into the fourth quarter, when seasonal demand for foreign currency typically rises. How quickly GoldBod resumes exports, and whether the higher mandatory sales requirement for large-scale miners lifts central-bank gold purchases back toward target, are likely to be the two clearest signals of whether the reserve rebuild Asiama described is taking hold.