, Dr. Zakari Mumuni, has credited the Central Bank’s Gold Purchase Programme with playing a key role in stabilising the cedi and easing inflation in recent months.){kind=link}
The First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr. Zakari Mumuni, has credited the Central Bank’s Gold Purchase Programme with playing a key role in stabilising the cedi and easing inflation in recent months.
Speaking at the CNVERGE’25 Africa Premier Trade Banking Programme in London, Dr. Zakari revealed that the initiative has also improved Ghana’s credit profile, moving it from restrictive default to B- with a stable outlook as of June 2025a development he said has boosted investor confidence.
“These gains have contributed to a stable macroeconomic environment, which is of critical interest to your work,” he told participants.
Launched in June 2021, the Gold Purchase Programme was designed to increase Ghana’s gold reserves and diversify the Central Bank’s assets. Under the scheme, the BoG purchases gold from local mining firms and pays them in Ghana cedis. This approach aims to reduce reliance on the US dollar, which is more vulnerable to global market shocks and strengthen the country’s reserve position.
As of July 2025, the BoG’s gold reserves stood at 34.40 tonnes. According to Dr. Zakari, the success of the programme also paved the way for the Gold for Oil initiative, which uses foreign exchange and gold to facilitate petroleum imports through government-to-government arrangements.
He noted that this has enabled Ghana to secure petroleum imports at competitive prices, easing pressure on the forex market and helping to stabilise ex-pump fuel prices. This, in turn, has moderated the “volatile ex-pump price pass-through effects” on transport costs and inflation.