The Institute of Fiscal Policy Governance has debunked claims by the Minority in parliament that the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) recorded a loss of approximately US$1.7 billion, or GH¢22 billion, in 2025.
According to the Institute of Fiscal Policy Governance, audited financial statements show a surplus of GH¢5.44 billion.
“These are not political estimates. They are figures contained in the audited financial statements of the institution,” the Institute stated.
They further accused the Minority of conflating GoldBod’s financial position with the financial consequences of the Bank of Ghana’s Domestic Gold Purchase Programme.
They highlighted that GoldBod and the Bank of Ghana are separate public institutions with distinct statutory functions, accounting records, balance sheets and reporting obligations.
The Institute of Fiscal Policy Governance argued that any loss recorded by the central bank in connection with monetary policy interventions cannot automatically be attributed to GoldBod without evidence showing the accounting and legal basis for such attribution.
According to the Institute, GoldBod’s role as an aggregator does not automatically make every cost or valuation movement recorded on the Bank of Ghana’s books a trading loss of GoldBod.
“The facts presently available are straightforward: GoldBod’s audited accounts do not report a GH¢22 billion loss. They report a surplus of approximately GH¢5.44 billion,” the Institute said.
The development follows Minority Leader and Effutu MP, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, who has said the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) has made a GH¢22 billion loss to the state.
According to Afenyo-Markin, the GoldBod must account for the GH¢22 billion financial loss to the state.
He argued that the Minority would not be deterred by attacks or criticisms from GoldBod officials as they push for public accountability.
Speaking at a press conference in Parliament on Tuesday, August 18, Afenyo-Markin stated, “So they must account for the GH¢22 billion loss. It must account for it because it amounts to causing financial loss to the state”.
“GoldBod is responsible for causing financial loss to the state and the Minority will say this and say it firmly and boldly,” he said.
“It doesn’t matter the adjectives that they use to describe or to attack our personalities, and we know a day of reckoning will come,” he said.
The minority further argued that GoldBod cannot hide behind an agency role to escape accountability.
Afenyo-Markin rejected GoldBod’s claims that its role as an agent of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) shields it from responsibility for losses arising from the country’s gold trading operations.
He added, “Gold Board cannot hide behind accounting technicalities”.
“Gold Board is entitled to make the accounting point that it was purchasing gold on behalf of the Bank of Ghana. But agency does not extinguish operational responsibility,” he said.
“An agent entrusted with billions of cedis or public resources remains responsible for the quality of its execution,” he said.
Afenyo-Markin added, “If an institution earns transaction-based income for purchasing, assaying, and aggregating gold, while the financier bears the underlying trading losses, then increasing transaction volumes may increase the agent’s revenue, even where the overall programme destroys value for the principal”.
“Any responsible government confronted with these 22 billion losses should immediately investigate whether the incentive structure encouraged excessive volumes, inadequate pricing discipline, or insufficient attention to trading costs,” he said.
“We therefore reject any attempt to answer the public concerns merely by pointing to GoldBod’s reported surplus,” he said.
@ghnow_ Minority Leader Afenyo-Markin Addresses GoldBod Losses #GHnow #fyp ♬ original sound – GHnow
@ghnow_ “You have made GH¢22 billion loss just from selling gold.” — Minority Leader quizzes GoldBod #GHnow #fyp ♬ original sound – GHnow
