Minority Leader in Parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has questioned the financial performance reported by the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), alleging that the government has not provided the Auditor-General with the complete financial picture of the institution’s operations.
Mr Afenyo-Markin argued that costs absorbed by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) may account for the apparent gap between GoldBod’s reported surplus and the substantial losses recorded under the central bank’s Domestic Gold Purchase Programme.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, August 18, 2026, the Effutu MP said GoldBod’s reported surplus should not be cited as evidence that the gold purchasing programme was financially sound.
He claimed that some costs associated with GoldBod’s transactions were borne by the Bank of Ghana and were therefore not fully captured 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.
According to Mr Afenyo-Markin, GoldBod’s reported surplus does not necessarily represent the full financial outcome of the programme if expenses incurred by the central bank are excluded from the assessment.
His comments follow an August 2026 report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which stated that the Bank of Ghana’s Domestic Gold Purchase Programme, implemented through GoldBod, recorded losses exceeding US$1.7 billion in 2025.
The IMF said the losses represented approximately 1.5 per cent of Ghana’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Mr Afenyo-Markin said the scale of the reported losses warranted a comprehensive review of the gold purchasing programme, particularly its pricing mechanisms, 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 relying solely on GoldBod’s reported surplus without accounting for expenses allegedly absorbed by the Bank of Ghana would leave important questions about the programme unanswered.
Meanwhile, figures contained in the Auditor-General’s report show that GoldBod recorded an operational surplus of GH¢909.7 million and an overall surplus of GH¢5.44 billion for the 2025 financial year.
