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Ghana: Ghana to Use Gold to Buy Oil Instead of U.S. Dollars to Address Debt Distress
VOA, 25 November 2022
Ghana's finance minister says the country is at high risk of debt distress as the currency, the cedi, has depreciated against the U.S. dollar, increasing its foreign debt by $6… Read more »
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Ghana: Ghana Reduces E-Levy Rate to 1% in 2023 Budget
The Exchange, 26 November 2022
Ghana is set to reduce the rate of the controversial Electronic Transfer Levy to one per cent from 1.5 per cent Read more »
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Ghana: Revenue Mobilisation, Closing Tax Loopholes Must Feature in 2023 Budget - Experts
Ghanaian Times, 24 November 2022
The Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, is expected to present the 2023 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of the government to Parliament today. Read more »
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Ghana: Ghana's Economic Crisis - Expert Insights Into How Things Got So Bad - and What the Fixes Are
The Conversation Africa, 25 October 2022
Ghana is grappling with runaway inflation as prices of basic commodities have spiralled. Government finances are also at their weakest in years. Ghana's local currency, the cedi,… Read more »
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Ghana: Another Bailout Won't Solve Ghana's Economic Crisis
ISS, 20 October 2022
As debt soars, Ghana must take ownership of its financial troubles, starting with slashing public expenditure. Read more »
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Ghana: Debt Restructuring Must Go Hand-in-Hand With Managing Finances Better
The Conversation Africa, 10 October 2022
Ghana is struggling with managing its debt, 20-year high inflation, a weak currency, and rising inequality. For example, inflation rose to 33.9% in August 2022 from 9.7% a year… Read more »
Ghana Plans to Buy Oil with Gold Instead of U.S. Dollars
Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia has said that in order to protect the country's fast-dwindling foreign currency reserves, Ghana wants to pay for oil with gold instead of shelling out precious U.S. dollars.
The move is meant to tackle dwindling foreign currency reserves coupled with the demand for dollars by oil importers, which is weakening the local cedi and increasing living costs.
Bawumia explained that "using gold will prevent the exchange rate from directly impacting fuel or utility prices as domestic sellers would no longer need foreign exchange to import oil products. The barter of gold for oil represents a major structural change," he added.
The West African country has been facing one of its worst economic crises.
Ghana's gross international reserves have fallen by about one-third - from $9.7 billion at the end of 2021 to around $6.6 billion at the end of September 2022, according to official data. Ghana produces crude oil, but it has relied on imports for refined oil products since its only refinery shut down after an explosion in 2017.
InFocus
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"We are in a crisis, I do not exaggerate when I say so. I cannot find an example in history when so many malevolent forces have come together at the same time. But, as we have ... Read more »
