Ghana's reserves fall by $1.2 billion as Middle East tensions bite – BoG

Ghana’s international reserves have come under significant pressure from tensions in the Middle East, resulting in a $1.2 billion decline over the past few months, Bank of Ghana (BoG) Governor Dr Johnson Asiama has disclosed.

He said global uncertainties had created a challenging environment for the country, requiring the central bank to intervene to support critical sectors of the economy.

“The past three to four months have been quite challenging for us when it comes to the country’s international reserves. I am therefore not surprised that we lost 1.2 billion reserves,” he stated.

Data from the Bank of Ghana’s July Economic and Financial Data show that Ghana’s gross international reserves fell from $14.1 billion to $12.9 billion.

He mentioned that building strong reserves remains critical to protecting Ghana’s economy from external shocks, as cited by MyJoyOnline.

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Dr Asiama indicated that the decision to accumulate substantial reserves in the previous year had helped position the country to withstand the latest global pressures.

“This is why we can say that one of the good things we did last year was to build some high reserves for interesting times like this,” he added.

According to the Governor, rebuilding the reserves will require Ghana to increase its foreign exchange earnings, particularly through cocoa and non-traditional exports.

He said non-traditional exports currently account for about 10% of Ghana’s total exports and should be raised to 15%.

Dr Asiama also identified remittances as another major source of foreign exchange that could help strengthen the country’s reserves and support economic growth.

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He noted that Ghana receives more than $8 billion in remittances and called for greater efforts to channel a larger share of the funds into productive investments rather than consumption.

The comments come as Ghana faces global economic challenges, making it important for the country to maintain enough reserves to deal with future shocks.

DR/SA

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