BoG to leverage commodities for strong reserve buffers – First Deputy Governor

To this end, it said it was looking forward to working with various partners to leverage all potential benefits from them.

“The global economy has en­tered a new era, where commod­ities are not just exported, but strategically leveraged to build resilience, unlock liquidity, and drive inclusive growth,” the First Deputy Governor of the BoG, Dr Zakari Mumuni, has stated.

He was speaking at CN­VERGE ’25 – Africa’s Premier Trade Banking Thought Im­pact Event – in London last Wednesday on the topic “Lever­aging Commodities-The Central Bank’s View.”

Dr Mumuni noted that in the past, policy perspectives on com­modities were often downplayed.

However, he said within today’s uncertain and volatile global environment, they had garnered significant policy atten­tion and now occupied a central position in finance, trade, and national development.

“Commodities are emerging as alternate policy tools for port­folio diversification, levers for economic growth, and as instru­ments of geopolitical influence,” he stressed.

He explained that, like many countries, Ghana’s economy was hit hard by the COVID-19 pan­demic and the Russia–Ukraine conflict, which exacerbated fiscal and debt vulnerabilities.

That Dr Mumuni said led to sovereign credit downgrades, loss of access to internation­al capital markets, dwindling reserves, sharp currency depreci­ation, and high inflation.

“Faced with this economic crisis, the Bank of Ghana and the government recognised the need to rethink foreign exchange reserve strategies, not just to restore macroeconomic stabil­ity, but also to build resilience against perennial shocks,” he said.

Dr Mumuni said the BoG’s response was the launch of the Domestic Gold Purchase Pro­gramme (DGPP) in June 2021, aimed at doubling the country’s gold reserves within five years, diversifying foreign exchange holdings, leveraging gold to raise cheaper short-term financing, and boosting confidence through stronger reserves.

“This programme was not just about reserve accumulation but also about unlocking the po­tential of the country’s commod­ity base,” Dr Mumuni noted.

The First Deputy Governor said by the end of June 2025, the central bank had purchased 145.95 tonnes of gold, sold 86.77 tonnes for foreign ex­change, increased physical hold­ings from 8.74 tonnes to 32.99 tonnes, and utilised 27.63 tonnes to settle 1.95 million metric tonnes of petroleum products under the Gold for Oil (G4O) initiative.