Minority demands answers over $1.7bn cost of gold-buying programme
Ghana's parliamentary opposition says the government's gold-buying strategy raises serious questions about how public resources are being managed, after an IMF report put losses linked to the programme at more than $1.7bn.
Ghana's main opposition party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has demanded greater scrutiny of the country's gold-buying programme after an International Monetary Fund report said the rapid expansion of the scheme in 2025 resulted in losses exceeding $1.7bn.
Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin made the demand at a press conference in Parliament on Tuesday, saying the figures raised serious questions about the management of the Ghana Gold Board, known as GoldBod, and the Bank of Ghana's domestic gold purchases.
Mr Afenyo-Markin said the losses could not simply be dismissed as the result of difficult market conditions.
"These losses are not bad luck. You don't trade in gold and make losses. They are not a difficult market," he said.
He described the figures as evidence of what he called serious management and policy failures at GoldBod.
But the dispute is not simply about whether GoldBod itself made a $1.7bn loss.
The IMF's assessment concerns the financial impact of the Bank of Ghana's Domestic Gold Purchase Programme (DGPP), a scheme through which the central bank bought large quantities of locally produced gold, with GoldBod playing a key role in the programme.
What the IMF said
The IMF's 2026 assessment says the significant scaling-up of the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme in 2025 resulted in losses of more than $1.7bn, equivalent to about 1.5% of Ghana's GDP.
The report says the losses were almost entirely related to Gold-for-Reserves (G4R) doré purchases.
Doré is semi-refined gold, usually produced at mine sites before being further refined.
The IMF says the losses reflected several factors, including fees paid to GoldBod, discounts applied when gold was sold to off-takers and exporters, and exchange-rate differences arising from the way the gold was purchased and accounted for.
The Fund also said some of the reported losses reflected valuation effects rather than direct economic costs.
That qualification is important.
It means the $1.7bn figure should not be interpreted as $1.7bn in cash simply disappearing from Ghana's accounts.
However, the IMF said the losses nevertheless weakened the Bank of Ghana's balance sheet and highlighted the need for greater transparency around the programme.
Why the programme became so large
Ghana dramatically increased its domestic gold purchases as part of an effort to build foreign-exchange reserves.
The Bank of Ghana bought about $7.6bn worth of gold through the programme in 2025 through August, according to an earlier IMF review.
That included about $5bn worth of doré gold from artisanal and small-scale miners between April and August.
The strategy was designed to allow Ghana to use one of its most valuable natural resources to strengthen its reserves and reduce pressure on the foreign-exchange market.
The programme has delivered significant reserve gains.
The IMF says Ghana's gross international reserves nearly doubled to $11.9bn by the end of 2025, equivalent to about four months of imports.
It also reported a current-account surplus of 7.9% of GDP in 2025, supported in part by historically high gold prices.
This is why the debate over the programme is more complicated than the headline loss figure suggests.
The government can point to substantially higher reserves and improved external balances, while critics can point to the financial cost of achieving those gains.
Why Afenyo-Markin is demanding answers
Mr Afenyo-Markin argues that an institution involved in buying and selling gold should be able to operate profitably, particularly in a period when international gold prices have been strong.
He said the Minority's concerns were about the management and policies of GoldBod rather than personal attacks on its chief executive, Sammy Gyamfi.
The Minority has also called for greater parliamentary scrutiny of the institution and the way Ghana's gold resources are being managed.
Mr Afenyo-Markin had previously described GoldBod as a potential "very big scandal", warning that there were issues surrounding its operations that he believed had not been fully disclosed.
On Tuesday, he went further, accusing the government of failing to provide adequate oversight.
He also urged governing NDC MPs not to use their parliamentary majority to block scrutiny of GoldBod's operations.
GoldBod rejects the claim that it made losses
GoldBod has strongly rejected the opposition's characterisation of its financial position.
Chief Executive Sammy Gyamfi has argued that the Minority is conflating the financial impact of the Bank of Ghana's gold programme with GoldBod's own accounts.
He says GoldBod's audited financial statements show a different picture.
According to Mr Gyamfi, GoldBod recorded an operational surplus of GH¢907m and an overall surplus of
GH¢5.4bn for the financial year.
He said those figures were contained in audited accounts prepared and published by the Auditor-General and challenged critics to rely on those official financial statements.
That creates an important distinction in the current political argument.
GoldBod's own financial performance is not necessarily the same thing as the financial cost incurred by the Bank of Ghana through the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme.
The IMF report is assessing the latter.
The earlier $214m figure
The controversy has also revived questions about an earlier figure of about $214m.
In January, the IMF publicly discussed losses associated with the domestic gold purchase programme and referred to a loss of about $214m.
That figure was widely reported as the programme's loss at the time.
The later IMF country assessment put the financial impact of the 2025 expansion at more than $1.7bn, prompting the current political dispute.
The two figures therefore should not be presented as though they necessarily describe the same accounting
measure.
The IMF has subsequently stressed that losses associated with the programme require greater transparency and
that quasi-fiscal activities should be limited because of their effect on the central bank's balance sheet.
Why the Bank of Ghana is under pressure
The issue is particularly sensitive because the Bank of Ghana has itself been dealing with a weakened balance sheet.
Its 2025 annual report recorded an operating loss of GH¢15.63bn, with the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme among the factors contributing to the result.
The IMF has warned that strengthening the central bank's balance sheet is important for the credibility of monetary policy.
It has specifically linked the losses associated with the gold programme to the need for improved transparency and tighter limits on quasi-fiscal operations.
What Ghana gained from the programme
The government has a strong argument in favour of the strategy: Ghana's external position improved substantially during 2025.
The country accumulated more international reserves, while gold exports benefited from high international prices.
The IMF said the programme helped Ghana outperform its reserve targets and contributed to the rebuilding of reserve buffers.
But the Fund has also made clear that the gains came with costs.
The central question is therefore not simply whether Ghana accumulated more gold or foreign exchange.
It is how much those gains cost the Bank of Ghana and, ultimately, the public purse.