NewzThe Tano North Member of Parliament (MP), Dr Gideon Boako, has called for closer scrutiny of the books of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) to determine the true nature of the reported $1.1 billion contribution to Ghana’s foreign exchange reserves. Dr Boako said the public discussion surrounding the reported reserves support should go beyond the headline figures and establish the financial obligations underlying GoldBod’s gold purchases. In a write up issued on Thursday, October 1, argued that GoldBod’s reported $1.8 billion in foreign exchange generation should be examined against its previous obligations to the Bank of Ghana, including about GH¢3.7 billion in gold supplies he said remained outstanding in 2025.
According to the MP, the financing structure is particularly important because GoldBod’s ability to direct dollar proceeds towards reserves would depend on the source of the funds used to purchase the gold. He said funds obtained from commercial banks would have to be repaid through corresponding foreign exchange sales, while funds provided by off-takers would similarly have to be matched with gold deliveries or related proceeds. Dr Boako said the potential sources that could allow the proceeds to support reserves would include Ministry of Finance funding or GoldBod debt instruments.
“The true length of this GoldBod arrangement will be known when we finally stretch the books,” Dr Boako said. He also questioned whether the Bank of Ghana was still financing GoldBod despite its stated intention to exit the funding scheme, and asked GoldBod to provide clarity on the reported GH¢5 billion commitment from the Ministry of Finance and how much of it had so far been used for gold purchases. 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. In a write up issued on Thursday, 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.
Summary from source