Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia announced on Nov. 24 via Facebook, that his government is developing a new policy by which they can pay for oil imports with gold, rather than the U.S. dollar, in an effort to stop the dwindling of their foreign currency reserves, and to prevent further devaluation of their currency, the cedi, reported Al Jazeera on Nov. 27.
“Ghana’s Gross International Reserves stood at around $6.6 billion at the end of September 2022, equating to less than three months of imports cover. That is down from around $9.7 billion at the end of last year, according to the government,” wrote Al Jazeera.
In the first nine months of 2022, the currency, the cedi, lost 40% of its value against the dollar, causing the costs of fuel, food and other necessities to skyrocket. Ghana is currently in negotiations with the IMF for a relief package.
