The Minority in Parliament has accused the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) of taking credit for foreign exchange gains from its gold trading operations while shifting the associated losses onto the Bank of Ghana (BoG).
Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin said GoldBod must account for the full financial implications of its gold purchasing and trading activities, particularly following reports that the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme recorded losses exceeding $1.7 billion in 2025.
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the losses, equivalent to about 1.5% of Ghana’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), were recorded under the Bank of Ghana’s Domestic Gold Purchase Programme implemented through GoldBod.
Speaking at a press briefing on Tuesday, August 18, Mr Afenyo-Markin questioned why GoldBod should claim the foreign exchange benefits generated from the programme while the central bank bears the losses associated with the transactions.
He argued that the institution could not selectively take credit for the revenue generated from the programme while distancing itself from the costs incurred in generating that revenue.
“GoldBod is happy to take credit for the foreign exchange he claims to have generated. But it goes quiet the moment we ask about the very trade that discounted sales, the fee arrangement that produced that forex in the first place,” he said.
“You cannot claim the upside of a trade and disown a downside,” he added.
Mr Afenyo-Markin further questioned the identities of the off-takers who benefited from discounted gold sales and demanded greater transparency regarding the transactions.
He said GoldBod must explain the rationale behind the discounted sales, the fee structures involved and how the trading arrangements resulted in substantial losses.
The Minority Leader maintained that its concerns were not aimed at denying GoldBod credit for the profits it has reported, but rather at examining the transactions and costs that underpinned those gains.
“We, the Minority, are not here to relegate the profit of GoldBod. The profit GoldBod has published in its own account. We are here because of what happened off the books, the operations, the fee structures, the discounted sales that made that profit possible in the first place,” he said.
He also criticised the arrangement under which the Bank of Ghana provided funds for gold purchases while allegedly absorbing the resulting losses.
“GoldBod took Bank of Ghana’s money to assay gold and collect its fees. It cannot claim the credit that comes with the revenue while pushing every loss into Bank of Ghana’s balance sheets,” he said.
Mr Afenyo-Markin said the arrangement effectively separated the benefits of the gold trade from its risks, leaving the central bank—and ultimately taxpayers—to bear the financial burden.
He therefore called on GoldBod to provide clear answers on its off-takers, pricing decisions, discounted gold sales and the reported $1.7 billion losses.
The Minority Leader said greater transparency was necessary to establish how the country’s gold trading programme generated significant foreign exchange while simultaneously exposing the Bank of Ghana to substantial losses.
