Chairperson of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Abena Osei Asare, has called on President John Dramani Mahama to order further investigations into losses incurred by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) through its dealings with the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod).
According to the MP, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has disclosed that losses associated with GoldBod amounted to about US $ 1.7 billion, significantly higher than the US $ 214 million loss previously reported by the Bank of Ghana.
She questioned how the difference of approximately US $ 1.4 billion was treated in the central bank’s financial statements and called on the accounting firm that audited the BoG to provide an explanation.
“How was it treated that it cannot be seen in their financial statements? For BoG to declare that they only made a loss of US $ 214 million and then the IMF comes and says no, that loss on GoldBod is US $ 1.7 billion,” she said.
“I am also calling out the accounting firm that audited the Bank of Ghana. They should come clean. We want to hear from them. We need an explanation of how they treated the difference of 1.4 billion. It is very important because their credibility is at stake here,” the MP added.
Questions over GoldBod losses
Ms. Osei Asare also expressed concern about the factors said to have contributed to the losses, particularly fees and discounts associated with GoldBod’s operations.
“When you look at what is attributed to the losses, I find it a bit hard to believe. Let me state that the IMF said these are fees paid to GoldBod. We paid fees, and then we ended up making a loss of US $1.7 billion. These are discounts applied to gold sold to the off-takers,” she said.
She questioned the rationale behind offering discounts to gold off-takers when, in her view, even small-scale gold sellers would ordinarily seek to avoid selling at a loss.
“Even the small gold sellers around don’t sell gold and make losses. Yet we give off-takers discounts. I don’t understand,” she said.
The PAC Chairperson urged GoldBod to provide detailed explanations about its operations and financial performance, saying the issue should be of concern to Ghanaians.
She further linked the GoldBod-related losses to the broader financial challenges facing the Bank of Ghana, noting that the central bank’s negative position had reportedly increased from GH¢58 billion to GH¢93 billion.
“As a result of this, we all know the negative position of the BoG increased from GH¢58 billion to GH¢93 billion, a huge gap of close to about GH¢40 billion, and all government could do in the mid-year budget was to give them a paltry sum of GH¢5 billion,” she said.
Calls for scrutiny of GoldBod’s finances
Abena Osei Asare also questioned the significance of GoldBod’s reported profit of GH¢909 million in light of the losses she says were incurred by the Bank of Ghana on the institution’s behalf.
“GoldBod is happy saying that they made a profit of GH¢909 million. We all should be thinking. If that money was given at the dawn of time, the huge losses GoldBod would have been making coupled with the huge losses BoG has already incurred on their behalf,” she said.
She consequently called on President Mahama to direct a comprehensive investigation into GoldBod’s operations and its financial relationship with the central bank.
“President Mahama, we are asking you to call for proper and further investigations into what is happening at GoldBod,” she said.
The PAC Chairperson, however, said she was “temporarily relieved” that the Bank of Ghana had, since July 1, 2026, stopped financing GoldBod in the manner it previously had.
She also suggested that GoldBod’s current programme should be brought before Parliament for scrutiny, arguing that Parliament had approved the institution’s budget.
“I think the programme that GoldBod is implementing now ought to be brought to Parliament because Parliament approved their budget,” she said.
