The Minority in Parliament has filed a motion for the establishment of ad hoc committee to investigate the Gold-for-Reserves programme and $214m gold losses by the Bank of Ghana (BoG).
Member of Parliament for Ofoase Ayirebi, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said that the purpose of the said Ad Hoc Committee shall be to inquire into, inter alia, the reported foreign exchange losses sustained by the Bank of Ghana in connection with the scheme, the roles of relevant State institutions, the integrity of supply-chain due diligence and traceability systems, the risk of acquisition of illegally sourced gold, and issues of accountability arising therefrom.
Earlier, on Monday, December, while addressing a press conference in Parliament, Mr Oppong Nkrumah stated that the $214 million Bank of Ghana’s gold losses should not be blamed on market fluctuations. The opposition lawmaker said it is a system that was designed to make the state bleed and incur losses.
He said, “The IMF has already mentioned that 214 million dollars worth of trading losses have been occasioned in the first nine months of this year. As a caucus, when we round our numbers, we can project that it is going to get to about 300 million dollars by the end of this year. $214 million losses under the gold for revenues is just nine months, but there are a few issues under that that we will want to draw your attention to.
“First is to explain to you how these losses are being occasioned. Small-scale miners will not sell unless they are paid through global market prices, even if a slight discount is given to them and at an exchange rate which the forex bureau uses.
The Goldbod, therefore, has to pay miners at real market value. However, Goldbod then sells dollars it receives from offshore buyers back to the BoG at a BoG or interbank rate, which is a weaker rate. Goldbod protects its host by passing the exchange rate losses directly onto the BoG. So this is not a market fluctuation problem. This is a system that is designed to make losses, and the state to bleed, so the intermediary will remain secure and profitable.”
