Africa-Press – Ghana. Mr Sammy Gyamfi, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) has lauded Dr Johnson Pandit Asiama and his team for stabilising and restoring confidence in the nation’s economy.
The CEO, in a statement said, “For those who have been unjustly attacking the Bank of Ghana for their decision to sell portions of the country’s gold holdings, as a deliberate reserve portfolio diversification measure, how do you feel about the free fall of gold prices we are currently witnessing, where the price of bullion in the last few weeks has dropped from a record-high of about $5,500/oz to about $4680/oz?”
“You see, gold is a proven safe haven asset. However, it is subject to significant price volatilities that pose considerable risk to reserve preservation.”
Mr Gyamfi said this was why a middle-income country like Ghana with Gross International Reserves of barely 5.7 months, ought not to over-concentrate its reserves in gold holdings but rather, diversify same across different asset classes.
He said in reserve portfolio management, safety and liquidity considerations were paramount.
“Converting portions of our gold holdings into cash and investing same to generate returns for the country, was therefore a SAFE and sensible decision by the BoG,” he said.
He added, “Simply put, the BoG converted about 22 tons of the country’s gold holdings into U.S dollars, added it to our reserves and invested it to generate returns for the country. Our reserves remained intact. No national asset was lost.”
He noted that this decision had significantly minimized the impact of the recent collapse in gold prices on Ghana’s reserve position.
“Kudos Dr. Asiamah and your wonderful team at the BoG. Keep up the good work for Mother Ghana,” Mr Gyamfi said.
