The Tano North Member of Parliament (MP), Dr Gideon Boako, has questioned claims that about $1.1 billion from Ghana Gold Board’s (GoldBod) recent foreign exchange generation represents an addition to the Bank of Ghana’s (BoG) reserves, arguing that the amount could largely constitute repayment of an existing obligation to the central bank.
According to Dr Boako, GoldBod owed the Bank of Ghana about GH¢3.7 billion in 2025 in respect of gold supplies it had failed to deliver after receiving cedi funding from the central bank to purchase gold on its behalf. He said the $1.8 billion generated by GoldBod, from which about $1.1 billion is being described as support to reserves, should therefore be properly explained.
“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.
Dr Boako further questioned the source of the funds used by GoldBod to purchase the gold that generated the foreign exchange.
He argued that under the current gold purchasing arrangement, where the Bank of Ghana has exited the gold purchasing funding scheme, gold bought with funds from commercial banks would have to be returned to those banks through foreign exchange sales, while gold purchased with funds from off-takers would similarly be returned to the respective off-takers.
He said the situation would be different if the gold purchases were financed by the Ministry of Finance or through GoldBod’s own debt instruments, because the resulting dollar proceeds could then potentially support reserve accumulation.
“Can GoldBod tell us the source of funding for its purchases?” Dr Boako asked, adding that the books would ultimately have to be examined to establish the true nature of the arrangement.
