Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, MP for Ofoase Ayirebi, says the Bank of Ghana (BoG) isn’t pulling any weird stunts to steady the Cedi.
Instead, the current setup—letting the central bank step in to prop up the currency—comes straight from moves made by the last government under President Akufo-Addo.
Speaking in Parliament during the 60th anniversary launch of the Ghana Cedi, Oppong Nkrumah pointed to the gold purchase program kicked off in 2021.
This was the first time Ghana’s state, through the BoG and the Precious Minerals Marketing Company (PMMC, now GoldBod), bought gold to bulk up reserves. Back then, they went from holding just 8 tonnes to 30 tonnes, when gold was about $1,700 per ounce.
Fast-forward to now: Gold’s hovering around $4,000 per ounce. That windfall lets the BoG grab loads of foreign exchange (forex) to flood the market. Oppong Nkrumah explained, “This month alone, the BoG is dumping about $1.3 billion onto the market—that’s the reason for the appreciation.”
He hailed the BoG Governor’s recent announcement of a 37.4% Cedi gain against major currencies this year so far. But he made it clear: It’s no fluke or fancy new policy. “Has anything strange happened? No,” he said. “It is because of the conditions of the market and the introduction of the gold purchase programme that today we are able to mobilise a lot of forex.”
Oppong Nkrumah dug into Ghana’s economic past to drive the point home. The Cedi shines when there’s plenty of forex for “market intervention”—like selling dollars to ease pressure on the local currency. But when hard cash runs dry, depreciation hits hard, inflation spikes, and what the Cedi buys shrinks.
Wrapping up, he threw shade at letting pure supply-and-demand run the show without that helping hand. “If you leave the market to the normal forces… will we get the 37.4% appreciation? Respectfully, I doubt,” he said.
His take? Credit the groundwork laid years ago, not any overnight wizardry from today’s team. As Ghanaians mark 60 years of their currency, the big question lingers: How do we keep it strong for the long haul?
