Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr. Johnson Asiama, has defended the decision to terminate the Gold-for-Oil programme in March 2025, describing it as justified and beneficial, while assuring Parliament that the Gold-for-Reserves initiative is being strengthened rather than abandoned.
Dr. Asiama made the remarks when he appeared before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, where he addressed concerns about the impact of ending the policy.
According to him, the suspension of the Gold-for-Oil programme has contributed to easing fuel supply challenges, noting the absence of fuel shortages and long queues at petrol stations since the programme was cancelled.
“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 to address that issue, and so we believe that the cancellation was worth it,” he told the committee on Monday, January 12.
Dr. Asiama explained that the programme was fraught with operational and governance challenges, which necessitated a deeper review.
“There were too many issues under the Gold-for-Oil that we needed to unearth. As a result, the Board authorised an external audit into the policy. We obtained Public Procurement Authority (PPA) approval for the audit two months ago, and that exercise is currently underway,” he disclosed.
Turning to the Gold-for-Reserves programme, the BoG Governor stressed that its core objective is to boost Ghana’s foreign reserves, not to generate profit.
“The objective of Gold-for-Reserves, as the name suggests, is for us to increase reserves,” he explained.
He added that available data shows the programme remains viable but requires efficiency improvements rather than termination.
“Based on the data available so far, the evidence is clear. It is not a question of shutting it down but rather enhancing its efficiency and removing the inefficiencies we have identified. That is why we went after GoldBod,” Dr. Asiama stated.
The Governor’s assurances come amid ongoing scrutiny of Ghana’s gold-backed policies, as the central bank seeks to strengthen transparency, accountability, and long-term economic stability.
