(Bloomberg) -- Ghana has launched a new gold coin to help it manage money-market liquidity, while boosting domestic savings.
The coin, made from gold mined in Africa’s biggest producer of the metal, has been refined to 99.99% purity, Governor of the Bank of Ghana Ernest Addison told reporters in the capital, Accra, on Friday. Issued and guaranteed by the central bank, the coin comes in three sizes of one, half and a quarter ounce coin, he said.
“The Ghana gold coin enables the Bank of Ghana to mop up excess liquidity in the banking sector and will supplement the bank’s bills for liquidity management,” Addison said. “It gives those resident in Ghana an additional avenue to invest to reap the benefits of the Bank of Ghana’s domestic gold purchase program.”
The coins will be available in the next two weeks through commercial banks to be bought in cedis and priced on the basis of London Bullion Market Association auction price, he said, adding that the gold complies with the central bank’s responsible gold sourcing rules.
The central bank has bought 65.4 tons of gold valued at roughly $5 billion since it started a domestic gold purchase program in June 2021 to augment foreign reserves and increase gold holdings, as well as implementing a so-called gold for oil program, Addison said last month.
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.