GH¢2.4bn BoG Losses Were Foreseeable, Not Linked to Gold for Oil – INSTEPR

Energy policy think tank, Institute for Energy Policies and Research (INSTEPR) says the GH¢2.4 billion losses recorded by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) under its gold purchase programme were predictable and stem from structural and pricing weaknesses within the programme, rather than the Gold for Oil initiative.

The comment follows an announcement by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that the Bank incurred the losses over a nine-month period through its gold purchase operations .

In a statement reacting to the IMF disclosure, the Executive Director of INSTEPR Kwadwo N. Poku said anyone who had followed its earlier reports would not have been surprised by the losses, noting that similar challenges had already been identified in previous years.

The think tank explained that the Bank of Ghana provides funds to Goldbod to procure gold through registered agents who buy directly from small-scale miners. According to INSTEPR, these miners typically base gold prices on international market rates converted into cedis using exchange rates they find acceptable, which often differ from the Bank’s internal rates. Discounts are then negotiated before transactions are concluded .

INSTEPR noted that since the introduction of Goldbod in 2025, the institution has been responsible for setting prices, exchange rates and discount margins. However, agents involved in the process add their own margins and cover the cost of refining gold into Dore Bars, which Goldbod purchases exclusively using funds provided by the Bank of Ghana. Goldbod also earns a commission for facilitating the transactions .

The group argued that under standard business practice, the Bank should at least break even when selling the gold acquired through the programme. It said the Bank failed to learn from similar outcomes in 2023 and 2024.

In a letter dated July 7, 2025, addressed to INSTEPR, the Bank of Ghana reportedly acknowledged losses of about GH¢1.8 billion from gold transactions, attributing them largely to exchange-rate differentials between local gold market prices and the Bank’s internal rates .

Despite this, INSTEPR said the losses have continued to be blamed on the Gold for Oil initiative, even though only a fraction of the GH¢2.1 billion loss recorded in 2024 was linked to oil transactions.

The statement further noted that while the Bank of Ghana incurred losses, institutions involved in the programme recorded profits. In 2024, PMMC reported a net profit of GH¢124.65 million, while BOST posted a net profit of GH¢318 million, according to the 2025 State Ownership Report by the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA) .

INSTEPR stressed that Goldbod bears no financial risk, as it operates solely with funds provided by the Bank of Ghana and earns commissions regardless of the Bank’s losses.

The group concluded that the recurring losses do not point to corruption or a lack of transparency in the Gold for Oil programme, but rather unresolved structural weaknesses in the gold purchase framework. It called for the engagement of institutions with expertise in trading to prevent future losses.

 

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