Ghanaian authorities on Friday launched a new gold coin, offering alternative investment options for domestic investors.
Central Bank Governor Ernest Addison launched the gold coin at a press briefing, stating that the initiative is part of the central bank’s unwavering commitment to deepen liquidity management in the financial market.
Addison added that the Ghana Gold Coin (GGC) also serves as a significant reminder of the country’s rich gold heritage.
“The GGC gives savers resident in Ghana an additional avenue to invest and reap the benefits from the Bank of Ghana’s domestic gold purchase program,” he stated.
The governor added that “gold has shown remarkable resilience as a financial asset and can serve as a natural hedge during periods of economic turbulence. The issuance of the GGC democratizes access to this enduring financial asset, enabling residents to diversify their financial portfolios.”
“The GGC issuance enables the Bank of Ghana to mop up extra cedi liquidity in the banking sector and will supplement the use of the Bank of Ghana Bills and overnight deposits for our open market operations,” he added.
According to the governor, the gold coin manufactured from dore gold is refined to 99.99 percent purity, giving it the original gold color.
He added that the central bank complied with all of its responsible gold sourcing rules and the anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism safeguards to ensure that the buying and selling of the GGCs is devoid of criminal financial activities.
Addison said the coins would be available in the next two weeks in three different sizes of one ounce, half an ounce, and a quarter of an ounce to suit different investments. He said investors could access the GGC in Ghana cedis through commercial banks on the basis of the London Bullion Market Association auction price.
Since its inception in 2021, the central bank’s domestic gold purchase program has yielded 65.4 tons of gold with an estimated value of 5.0 billion U.S. dollars, boosting the country’s foreign reserves, according to the central bank governor.