Bank of Ghana Governor Johnson Asiama told the opening session of the 132nd Monetary Policy Committee meeting on 23 September 2026 that the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) has paused its gold exports since mid-August. He projected a current-account deficit for the third quarter as gold shipments slow and service payments rise. Gross international reserves stand at about 4.2 months of import cover, and the Bank of Ghana names rebuilding them a priority ahead of the seasonal rise in foreign-exchange demand in the fourth quarter.
Section 3(2) of the Ghana Gold Board Act, 2025 (Act 1140) gives GoldBod the sole mandate to assay and value all gold leaving Ghana and to export gold from producers other than large-scale miners, who export under their own licences. Aggregators licensed by GoldBod export under approvals it issues, and a directive from GoldBod’s Compliance Directorate dated 24 August changed the form of those exports: since 1 September, self-financing aggregators may not export doré that has not been refined in Ghana. None of Ghana’s licensed refineries, including Gold Coast Refinery and Royal Ghana Gold, which hold GoldBod supply agreements, appears on the LBMA Good Delivery List. Bars cast there sit outside the Good Delivery system and enter it only after re-melting and assay at a listed refiner, which stamps its own mark and serial number. That refiner carries the due-diligence obligation for the intake under the LBMA Responsible Gold Guidance, is audited against it each year, and publishes an annual compliance report under it. A change in one producing country’s export route changes a listed refiner’s intake; the refiner mark, serial number and fineness of an allocated bar are fixed when it is cast.
The governor’s remarks cover Ghana’s external position. The timing and terms of GoldBod exports sit with GoldBod under Act 1140, and the policy rate with the Monetary Policy Committee, which announces its decision after the meeting.