It was an error; an unfortunate oversight; BoG reserve dropped from $9.70bn to $7.68bn, not to $3bn – Kwarteng

The Finance Committee of Parliament has clarified that the Bank of Ghana (BoG) foreign reserves declined from $9.7 billion to about $7.63 billion and not that it dropped to $3bilion as it reported earlier while making a case for the approval of the $750million Loan Facility Agreement between government of Ghana and the AfreximBank, which has since been approved by the House.

“We reported that the international reserves of the Bank of Ghana had declined from US$9billion to US$3billion. Mr Speaker, this was an error, it was an unfortunate oversight.

“According to the Bank of Ghana, the Gross International Reserves of the country was US$9.70 billion at the close of December 2021.

“This declined to US7.68billion at the close of June 2022,” the Committee clarified in a statement signed by its Chair Kwaku Kwarteng on Friday July 22.

The Finance Committee had said “These challenges are further exacerbated by the rapidly dwindling reserves of the Bank of Ghana which has declined from $9 billion to about $3 billion.

“With a monthly demand of over $600 million, the reserves of the central bank may be exhausted in a few months if urgent steps are not taken to shore up the countries reserves.”

“The Minister further indicated that, there is an urgent need for the government to secure the $750 million facility to help shore up the reserve position of the Bank of Ghana to avoid the country defaulting on its international commitments and also to avoid the country moving into insolvency.”

By Laud Nartey|editors.3news.com|Ghana