The Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr. Johnson Asiama, has mounted a firm defence of the central bank’s new direction in mineral resource management, stressing the need to safeguard the Gold-for-Reserves initiative while admitting that key reforms are required to clear operational hurdles.
Appearing before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Monday, January 12, 2026, Dr. Asiama delivered a detailed briefing on the discontinuation of the contentious Gold-for-Oil (G4O) scheme and the subsequent shift toward an aggressive reserve accumulation strategy under the Gold-for-Reserves (G4R) policy.
With the G4O programme now phased out, the BoG has redirected its full attention to the G4R framework. Dr. Asiama underscored that although the initiative remains fundamentally robust and crucial for national stability, it is undergoing adjustments to eliminate “inefficiencies.”
He explained that the establishment and empowerment of GoldBod—the Ghana Gold Board—was designed to address systemic shortcomings. By centralising the management of gold flows, the BoG seeks to cut out intermediary costs and ensure that every ounce acquired directly strengthens the country’s external reserves.
“The objective of Gold-for-Reserves, as the name suggests, is for us to increase reserves,” Dr. Asiama explained. “Based on the data available so far, the evidence is clear that it is not a case of shutting it down but a question of enhancing its efficiency, looking at inefficiencies that we have to take out. That is why we went after GoldBod.”
The renewed push for reserve growth comes at a time when Ghana’s foreign exchange position has demonstrated notable resilience. By the close of 2025, gross international reserves had risen sharply, offering the Cedi a vital cushion against global market turbulence.
Dr. Asiama further confirmed that the termination of the Gold-for-Oil programme in March 2025 was a deliberate decision that has not disrupted the domestic fuel supply. He dismissed concerns of a return to the fuel shortages and long queues witnessed in 2022.
“The first reference is to observe that since we cancelled the Gold-for-Oil in March 2025, we have not seen a build-up of queues at the pumps. One of the objectives of the policy was for that. So, we believe that the cancellation was worth it,” the Governor stated.
Nonetheless, the programme’s closure has not escaped scrutiny. Dr. Asiama disclosed that a “thorough review” was prompted by numerous operational challenges. An external audit, sanctioned by the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) two months ago, is currently in progress to examine the policy’s legacy.
“There were too many issues under the Gold-for-Oil that we needed to unearth. Therefore, the board authorised an external audit into the policy. We got a PPA approval for the audit two months ago. That exercise is underway.”
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