Prof. Patrick Asuming, Economist, has emphasised the need for the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) to support its claims with comprehensive accounting.
Prof. Asuming said such oversight of state institutions is both expected and necessary, particularly when national resources are involved.
Speaking during an interview with TV3, Prof. Asuming stated, “This is for the country of Ghana,” he stated. “When institutions of state are doing things and people comment, it’s not necessarily an attack.”
Prof. Asuming also noted a change in the Gold Board’s communication style. He observed that while earlier statements appeared confrontational, recent explanations acknowledge losses while highlighting that the benefits outweigh the costs.
“The earlier statement came across as defiant,” he said. “But now the position seems to be that yes, there are losses, and the benefits outweigh the costs. That is a point of view.”
His remarks come amid claims that the Bank of Ghana is allegedly concealing losses linked to the Gold-for-Reserves programme. The Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) had earlier rejected assertions in an International Monetary Fund (IMF) report that the Bank of Ghana incurred losses of approximately $214 million under the programme.
The IMF had flagged these reported losses as a potential risk to Ghana’s broader macroeconomic stabilisation efforts, attributing them to transactions involving artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) dore gold, as well as what it termed “GoldBod off-taker fees.”
In a detailed response posted on social media, GoldBod’s Chief Executive Officer, Sammy Gyamfi, described the claims as inaccurate and based on misconceptions about the Board’s operations.
He stated that GoldBod has not recorded any losses under its gold trading programmes and is on track to declare an income surplus of no less than GH¢600 million for the 2025 financial year, according to unaudited financial statements published on the Board’s website.
Later, speaking on TV3, Gyamfi clarified that the issue is not about denial but rather about accounting treatment and financial reporting standards.
“The Bank of Ghana is not running away from any loss. These are accounting matters that have been referred to external auditors to ensure fairness and balance,” he said.