The Minority Leader in Parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has accused the government of failing to provide the Auditor-General with the full financial picture of the Ghana Gold Board’s (GoldBod) operations.
He argued that this may explain the disparity between GoldBod’s reported surplus and the significant losses recorded under the Bank of Ghana’s (BoG) Domestic Gold Purchase Programme.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, August 18, Mr Afenyo-Markin said GoldBod’s reported surplus should not be used to dismiss concerns about the financial losses associated with the gold purchasing programme.
He argued that some costs incurred through GoldBod’s transactions were borne by the Bank of Ghana and, according to him, were not fully reflected in the Auditor-General’s assessment.
“Yes, we concede that it is the Auditor-General that has conducted an audit, but the Auditor-General was not given access to the full picture. If the Auditor-General knows that indeed the costs of GoldBod’s transaction were borne by Bank of Ghana, Auditor-General would not declare surplus in its accounting reporting,” he said.
Mr Afenyo-Markin said the reported surplus therefore did not provide a complete picture of GoldBod’s financial performance, insisting that costs absorbed by the central bank must also be considered when assessing the programme.
His comments follow an August report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which indicated that the Bank of Ghana’s Domestic Gold Purchase Programme, implemented through GoldBod, recorded losses of more than US$1.7 billion in 2025.
The IMF said the losses were equivalent to 1.5% of Ghana’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), raising concerns about the financial implications of the programme.
Mr Afenyo-Markin said the scale of the reported losses should prompt a broader review of GoldBod’s operations, including its pricing decisions, trading volumes and transaction costs.
“Any responsible government confronted with this GH¢22 billion loss should immediately investigate whether the incentive structure encouraged excessive volumes, inadequate pricing discipline, or insufficient attention to trading costs,” he said.
The Minority Leader maintained that pointing to GoldBod’s reported surplus without accounting for costs allegedly borne by the Bank of Ghana would not adequately address questions surrounding the programme’s financial performance.
According to the Auditor-General’s report, GoldBod recorded an operational surplus of GH₵909.7 million and an overall surplus of GH₵5.44 billion for the 2025 financial year.
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