Dr Gideon Boako Warns of Additional GoldBod-Related Losses in BoG Audited Accounts
The Member of Parliament for Tano North, Dr Gideon Boako, has cautioned that the Bank of Ghana’s upcoming audited financial statements could reveal additional losses linked to GoldBod, over and above the $214 million already cited by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Speaking in an interview on Thursday, January 8, Dr Boako referenced the IMF’s September 2025 report, which pointed to trading losses arising from the Gold-for-Reserve programme and related intermediation activities.
He indicated that further quarters may reflect even larger losses once the central bank’s audited accounts are released, stressing that the figures disclosed so far may not represent the full extent of the financial impact.
“The losses are coming from two streams,” Dr Boako said. “The $214 million relates to GoldBod’s trading operations. However, there is another component that will surface in the Bank of Ghana’s audited accounts, and that loss will be much larger.”
According to him, the anticipated additional losses stem from the structure of the central bank’s cedi–dollar–gold transactions.
He criticised the current framework, where cedis are mobilised from commercial banks to purchase gold at prevailing Bloomberg exchange rates, while the resulting dollars are sold back into the system at what he described as an artificially strengthened Bank of Ghana rate.
Dr Boako attributed the emerging losses partly to the additional six tonnes of gold currently held in the Bank of Ghana’s vaults, arguing that the valuation method being applied creates significant exchange rate distortions.
He further accused the central bank of operating a multiple exchange rate system, a practice that has drawn criticism from the IMF. Under this arrangement, he noted, reserve gold is acquired at the higher Bloomberg rate but recorded in the books at an exchange rate approximately 10 per cent lower.
On this basis, Dr Boako argued that auditors are likely to value the reserve gold below its acquisition cost, inevitably resulting in exchange losses being recognised in the accounts.
“The IMF report has clearly stated that this practice is problematic and will continue to generate losses,” he added.
He maintained that the figures emerging from the IMF’s assessment reflect broader policy choices rather than flaws in GoldBod’s operational framework, warning that failure to reform the exchange rate regime would expose both the Bank of Ghana and GoldBod to sustained financial pressure.
