BoG Governor, Dr. Johnson Asiamah calls for review of GoldBod’s trading model Asap

The Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Johnson Asiamah, has urged Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson to explore a sustainable financing plan for the Ghana Gold Board’s (GoldBod) trading model..

Addressing questions about the losses the Bank of Ghana has taken on for GoldBod’s gold purchases, Dr. Asiama emphasized that backing from the Finance Ministry would be vital. He explained that GoldBod’s activities are a key part of the Gold for Reserves programme, which has played an important role in boosting the country’s reserves..

During the Public Accounts Committee hearing, Dr. Asiama stated, “It’s not about shutting it down, but improving its efficiency by identifying and eliminating the inefficiencies.”

“The best thing now, in the national interest, is to look again at the trading model and to, for example, decide: should the Ministry of Finance make a budgetary allocation to take care of the costs, given that this is supporting our reserves build-up? Those are the type of questions we need to agree on.”

He added that the central bank had already made progress in addressing some of the inefficiencies and called for a collective national effort to ensure the success of the programme.

“In the case of the Gold for Reserves, as the name suggests, the objective was to help us build reserves… and the evidence is clear,”, he added.

“You will see the reductions that we have brought to bear. So going forward, let’s look at these aspects that we can fix in the interest of the country. And it calls for a unified approach”, he explained.

Dr. Asiama emphasised the need for a policy rethink on how GoldBod is financed to avoid further financial pressure on the BoG.

“The best thing now, in the national interest, is to look again at the trading model and to, for example, decide: should the Ministry of Finance make a budgetary allocation to take care of the costs, given that this is supporting our reserves build-up? Those are the type of questions we need to agree on.”

The Bank of Ghana have been under fire in the last couple of weeks after the International Monetary Fund reveled in its 5th review of Ghana’s ongoing IMF programme that losses from the artisanal and small-scale gold transactions under the programme had reached $214 million by the end of September 2025.

Although GoldBod has posted profits, those gains have largely come at the central bank’s expense, as it has taken on most of the programme’s losses. In response, the Majority Caucus in Parliament rejected the claim, stating that the amount in question was simply a transactional and insurance cost tied to GoldBod’s gold trading activities for 2025.