The Bank of Ghana says it will soon begin the purchase of gold from small scale mining firms as part of the bank’s plans to shore up part of its reserves which is held in gold.
Governor of the central bank, Dr. Ernest Addison, speaking at the MPC press briefing last Friday stated that the bank will be doing the purchase via selected local gold buying agencies.
He explained that the decision to purchase gold is borne out of the fact that Ghana is one of the lead producers of gold in the world, and the Bank is seeking to take advantage by shoring up its reserves using gold produced locally.
“We decided that as a central bank in a country that produces gold, may be we needed to strengthen our holdings of gold. So, that policy decision was taken and the bank has put in place the modalities and working with some of the local buying agencies on acquiring that gold. Currently, we are finalizing arrangements for the refining of that gold. We have not done the first purchase yet,” the Governor said.
He further revealed that the first purchase should have been done last year, but the Bank took a decision to shelve it temporarily, adding that the Bank is now optimistic that the gold purchasing programme will commence by the middle of this year.
