The Institute of Fiscal Policy Governance (IFPG) has rejected claims that the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) recorded a loss of about GH¢22 billion in 2025, insisting that the institution’s audited financial statements show a surplus of GH¢5.44 billion.
The Institute’s position follows statements by Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin and members of the Minority Caucus regarding the financial performance and operations of GoldBod.
In a statement issued in Accra on Tuesday, August 18, 2026, the Institute said political accountability must be grounded in facts, proper accounting principles and accurate representations of audited public financial information.
According to the Institute, GoldBod’s audited Statement of Financial Performance for the year ended December 31, 2025, recorded total revenue of GH¢5.554 billion and total expenditure of GH¢109.585 million.
The figures resulted in a surplus of GH¢5.444 billion before exceptional items and GH¢5.443 billion after exceptional items.
The Institute stressed that these figures were contained in GoldBod’s audited financial statements and therefore disputed the claim that the institution recorded a GH¢22 billion loss.
GoldBod and BoG accounts
The Institute further accused the Minority of conflating GoldBod’s financial statements with the financial consequences of the Bank of Ghana’s (BoG) Domestic Gold Purchase Programme.
It said GoldBod and the central bank were separate public institutions with distinct statutory functions, accounting records, balance sheets and reporting obligations.
According to the Institute, any loss recorded by the Bank of Ghana in connection with monetary policy interventions, reserve accumulation, foreign exchange operations or valuation movements could not automatically be attributed to GoldBod without evidence showing the accounting and legal basis for such attribution.
The Institute also pointed to what it described as a contradiction in the Minority’s position, noting that the Minority Leader had acknowledged that GoldBod published a profit in its own accounts while arguing that other losses occurred “off the books.”
It challenged the Minority to produce an audited schedule, transaction-by-transaction reconciliation or Auditor-General’s finding establishing that GoldBod incurred the alleged GH¢22 billion loss.
Auditor-General’s role
The Institute also rejected suggestions that the Auditor-General did not have the “full picture” when auditing GoldBod.
It said that if the Minority had evidence that material financial information was withheld from the Auditor-General, such evidence should be produced and the appropriate constitutional and statutory mechanisms invoked.
The Institute maintained that audited accounts remain the authoritative financial record unless they are lawfully restated, qualified or displaced by competent audit evidence.
GH¢4.547bn grant
On the GH¢4.5477 billion grant reflected in GoldBod’s 2025 revenue, the Institute said the amount should not be portrayed as evidence of a trading loss.
It explained that the allocation was provided for in the 2025 national budget and subsequently reflected in the Appropriation Act, 2025 (Act 1126).
The Institute argued that the existence of the government grant did not transform GoldBod’s financial result into a GH¢22 billion loss.
Call for evidence
The Institute said it supported parliamentary oversight and rigorous scrutiny of GoldBod and other public institutions but cautioned against using accounting terminology to advance political conclusions that were not established by audited accounts.
It urged the Minority to distinguish between costs or losses recorded by the Bank of Ghana and any alleged trading losses incurred by GoldBod.
The Institute challenged the Minority to produce contrary audited evidence if it maintained that GoldBod incurred a GH¢22 billion loss.
It concluded that GoldBod’s audited accounts currently before the public do not report a GH¢22 billion loss but instead show a surplus of approximately GH¢5.44 billion.
The Institute therefore called on the Minority either to produce audited evidence supporting its allegation or cease attributing costs or losses arising from a separate Bank of Ghana programme to GoldBod.
Story By: Eric Boateng
