The Tano North Member of Parliament, Dr Gideon Boako, has questioned claims that about $1.1 billion generated by the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) represents an addition to the Bank of Ghana’s (BoG) foreign exchange reserves.
According to Dr Boako, the amount could largely represent the repayment of an existing obligation GoldBod owed the central bank.
He said GoldBod owed the Bank of Ghana about GH¢3.7 billion in 2025 after receiving cedi funding from the central bank to purchase gold on its behalf but failing to deliver the gold.
Dr Boako argued that the $1.8 billion generated by GoldBod, of which about $1.1 billion is being described as support to the reserves, should therefore be properly accounted for.
“The $1.8 billion from which about $1.1 billion is being deemed as addition to reserves is therefore just a repayment, or supply, of what GoldBod already owed BoG,” he said.
He also questioned the source of funding used by GoldBod to purchase the gold that generated the foreign exchange.
Dr Boako said under the current gold purchasing arrangement, following the Bank of Ghana’s exit from the gold purchasing funding scheme, the destination of the foreign exchange proceeds would depend on the source of financing for the gold purchases.
He explained that where gold purchases are financed by commercial banks, the gold would have to be returned to those banks through foreign exchange sales.
Similarly, he said gold purchased with funds from off-takers would have to be returned to the respective off-takers.
Dr Boako said the situation would be different if the gold purchases were financed by the Ministry of Finance or through GoldBod’s own debt instruments.
In such a case, he argued, the resulting dollar proceeds could potentially support the accumulation of foreign exchange reserves.
“Can GoldBod tell us the source of funding for its purchases?” Dr Boako asked.
He said the books of GoldBod and the Bank of Ghana would ultimately have to be examined to establish the true nature of the arrangement and determine whether the reported foreign exchange represents a genuine addition to reserves or the settlement of existing obligations.
