From 1 January 2023, Ghana will pay some of its bills for imports, especially fuel, in bullion instead of dollars. A country hit by a deep economic crisis pursues several goals with this extraordinary decision.
Faced with an acute economic crisis, the Ghanaian authorities have taken an exceptional decision by announcing that they will pay the bill for part of the country’s supplies, notably fuels, in gold, instead of the US dollar. This exceptional decision will come into force on 1 January 2023, according to a Facebook message from Ghanaian vice-president Mahamudu Bawumia. According to the latter, this measure will first concern imports of refined petroleum products, so far settled in US dollars.
To dispose of enough gold, the authorities have announced that the country, through the Bank of Ghana, the country’s central bank, will buy 20% of local gold production (80 tonnes in 2021, down 30% compared to 2020).
In other words, all gold producers in the country must sell 20% of their production to the Ghanaian state. This applies to the production of large gold companies, particularly multinational subsidiaries, as well as to small local companies, gold operators and community mining projects.