Karaga MP and former Finance Minister, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, has disputed claims that Ghana’s gold purchase programme was responsible for a significant increase in the country’s foreign exchange reserves.

Dr Amin Adam said Bank of Ghana data showed that gold contributed only US$60.9 million, representing 1.3 per cent, of the US$4.716 billion increase in reserves.

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, September 1, he also pointed out that Ghana’s actual gold holdings fell from 30.5 tonnes to 18.6 tonnes, representing a 39 per cent decline.

“Actual holdings fell from 30.5 tonnes to 18.6 tonnes, a 39% decline, so even that small increase came from the world price rather than from Ghana holding more gold,” he said.

According to Dr Amin Adam, other sources contributed significantly more to the growth in reserves, including remittances of US$7.79 billion, cocoa earnings of US$3.86 billion, crude oil exports of US$2.62 billion and foreign direct investment of US$2.61 billion.

He also cited IMF figures showing that foreign currency inflows linked to the programme amounted to US$10.9 billion, out of which the Bank of Ghana sold US$10.6 billion back into the local market.

“In practice this operated as a foreign exchange intervention, not a reserve building programme,” he said.

Dr Amin Adam acknowledged that foreign exchange intervention could be a legitimate policy decision but argued that it was different from the purpose outlined in the legislation establishing GoldBod.

“That may be a legitimate policy choice, but it is not the one written into the law that created GoldBod,” he said.

He is therefore calling for greater transparency about the programme’s stated objectives, costs and actual impact on Ghana’s reserves.