By Festus Poquie
The Central Bank of Liberia plans to build a gold reserves for the first time and has asked lawmakers for authority to print new banknotes to cover purchases and meet expanding transactional needs of the domestic economy, a senior central bank official said, joining a broader wave of central bank bullion accumulation among emerging market economies.
Mah Kruah, deputy director of research at the CBL, told journalists in Monrovia that the project is intended to bolster the country’s foreign exchange reserves by adding gold, a strategy increasingly used by African central banks to limit exposure to external currency shocks.
The bank has not yet fixed a target quantity of gold, and the ultimate volume will be driven by purchase plans Kruah said.
CBL’s request to lawmakers seeks consent to print currency for multiple purposes: financing the acquisition of gold reserves, replacing worn or mutilated notes — which the bank says run at about a 7% annual mutilation rate — supporting a growing economy and meeting the central bank’s own monetary operations needs.
The amount of gold that will be purchased, coupled with transactional demand of the economy and the quantity of defaced or mutilated banknotes, will determine the amount of currency to be printed, Kruah said.
Liberia’s move comes after a strong year for gold exports: the country earned $1.03 billion from gold in 2024, making the metal Liberia’s largest export and ranking the West African country 52nd among 157 global gold exporters, according to trade data the Oracle News Daily has consulted.
Regional and global context
The push to add gold mirrors a global rebound in central bank purchases. Central banks bought about 27 tonnes of gold in February 2026, equivalent to roughly $2 billion at prevailing prices, data and market commentary show.
While more than 60 central banks have added gold in recent years, net demand remains concentrated among a handful of aggressive buyers — notably Poland and the People’s Bank of China — with Kazakhstan, Turkey and India also prominent.
African central banks have been more measured but strategic. The Bank of Uganda has launched a domestic purchasing program aimed at at least 100 kilograms over four months, while Ghana and Egypt have used bullion accumulation to shore up local currency stability.
Other countries, including Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo, have signaled intent to increase holdings or monetize domestic production, though holdings on the continent remain modest relative to global totals.
Why gold, why now
Policy makers cite diversification of reserve assets and protection against currency volatility as the rationale. For economies with rising export receipts from gold mining, adding physical bullion can be a natural complement to foreign exchange holdings.
But the move raises practical and financial questions: how much to buy, where to source the metal, how to store and insure it, and how to finance purchases without stoking inflationary pressure.
CBL officials say printing will be calibrated to transactional needs and currency replacement rather than a one-off funding gambit. Still, central bank money printing to finance asset purchases can attract scrutiny from markets and rating agencies if it materially expands the monetary base without commensurate sterilization or fiscal consolidation.
Liberia’s pivot toward formalizing bullion reserves adds to an evolving narrative in which a growing number of emerging markets are quietly rebuilding gold buffers as a hedge against external shocks.
