Ghana plans to buy oil with gold instead of US dollars

ACCRA—Ghana’s government is working on a new policy where gold rather than US dollar reserves will be used to buy oil, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia said on Thursday. The move is meant to tackle dwindling foreign currency reserves coupled with demand for dollars by oil importers, which is weakening the local cedi and increasing living costs. Ghana’s Gross International Reserves stood at $6.6 billion at the end of September 2022. Using gold would prevent the exchange rate from directly impacting fuel or utility prices.