GHANA’S GOLD BULLION RESERVES

Who Sold Off Ghana's Entire Gold Reserves? – K. S. Garbrah - September 25, 2008 - Ghanaweb.

Ghana's Gold Reserves Unsold ( Rejoinder) – CITY & BUSINESS GUIDE- October 1, 2008 - Ghanaweb.

Every monetary system holds some gold reserves in the form of gold bars/bullions to support and stabilize its paper currency and the overall stability of its economy. The article by City & Business Guide in rejoinder to Mr. K. S. Garbrah's article misses the point entirely and muddles the waters, because while Mr. Garbrah's article was talking about gold that has already been mined and in the form of gold bars/bullions held at the Ghana Central Bank and in the vault of the Federal Reserve Bank in New York on behalf of Ghana, City & Business Guide's article was talking about Ghana's potential of un-mined reserves still in the BELLY of the Earth. City Guide should desist from throwing dust in the eyes of Ghanaians by comparing apples to oranges. Ghana's gold reserves at the Federal Reserve Bank are being held there on behalf of Ghana. Some may be held at the Swiss Bank except that Swiss Banks' transactions are shrouded in secrecy. In 1985, the author visited the Federal Reserve Bank in Manhattan and observed these gold bullions with his own eyes. They are held in a vault 15 stories below sea level and the vault contains gold bars belonging to several nations around the world. This is what Mr. K. S. Garbrah may have been referring to. Please read the following:

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York maintains a vault that lies 86 feet (26m) below sea level, resting on Manhattan's bedrock. By 1927, the vault contained ten percent of the world's official gold reserves. Currently, it is reputedly the largest gold repository in the world (though this cannot be confirmed as Swiss Banks do not report their gold stocks) and holds approximately 5,000 metric tons of gold bullion ($160 billion as of March, 2008, more than Fort Knox. The gold is owned by many foreign nations, Central Banks and International Organizations. The Federal Reserve Bank does not own gold but serves as guardian of the precious metal, which it protects at no charge as a gesture of good will to other nations. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Reserve_Bank_of_New_York.

BRIEF HISTORY OF GOLD BULLIONS RESERVES. The following is an indication and reasons why countries have been reserving gold bars to support their economies: ….

If speculations abound as to what has become of Ghana's gold bullion reserves in the form of gold bars in Ghana's Central Bank and in at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and perhaps in Swiss banks, the government needs to come out with the necessary information to dispel any rumors and not leave it to CITY & BUSINESS GUIDE to defend it and talk about what they do not know by feeding Ghanaians with misinformation and unnecessary propaganda.

Dr. Gabriel Ayisi
Economist and author of “Higher Education Centered Economic Development and Growth – Ghana as Case Study. – in print.