Member of Parliament for Kade Constituency, Alexander Agyare
The Member of Parliament for Kade Constituency and Vice Chairman of the Budget Committee of Parliament, Alexander Agyare, has questioned the sustainability of the recent appreciation of the Ghanaian cedi against the US dollar.
Speaking in an interview on Asaasepa, the MP noted that while the ruling National Democratic Congress has been quick to take credit for the cedi’s appreciation, the current state of the US dollar is a fact that cannot be ignored.
“If you ask me, the appreciation of the cedi is what you would call a passing wind. In economics, you don’t gain out of nothing. What have we done for the cedi to appreciate? Globally, the American dollar is facing challenges, which has led to a depreciation of the dollar in value,” he stated.
Among other factors, members of the ruling party and the government have ascribed the cedi’s appreciation to fiscal decisions and economic policies, such as the establishment of the Ghana Gold Board.
However, according to Alexander Agyare, the operations of the Gold Board are posed with inherent challenges that may prove fatal in the long run.
“We hear that the Gold Board has exported over $2 billion, which has been injected back into the economy. If that, along with the challenges facing the dollar, is what they want to take credit for, we will congratulate them. The arrangement for the Gold Board is that they will purchase the gold with cedis. Recently, when I went back to my constituency, the miners were very angry, and the aggregators are angry,” he said.
“Their issue is that while gold prices keep appreciating on the world market, the amount being paid to them has remained constant. Don’t forget that the people complaining today used to buy the gold using the international rate. So, it’s not as if they are not in tune with the work; they know their job. But it has happened that everyone has to comply with the Gold Board laws. However, when the prices go up on the international market, they do not benefit. That is something affecting the miners, for which the repercussions will soon manifest,” he stated.
He warned that if the right measures are not adopted, miners will eventually devise means of bypassing the Gold Board and smuggling gold out of the country to sell on the international market.
The Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), established on April 2, 2025, is a government body tasked with overseeing and regulating Ghana’s gold industry.
It holds exclusive rights to buy, sell, assay, and export gold, particularly from artisanal and small-scale miners, aiming to curb smuggling, boost state revenues, and stabilize the cedi.
SA
Watch the latest edition of BizTech below:
Click here to follow the GhanaWeb Business WhatsApp channel
Meanwhile, watch GhanaWeb’s tour of Odweanoma Paragliding Field below:
