Where Is The $1.4bn? PAC Chair Demands GoldBod, BoG Probe

The Chairperson of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, Abena Osei-Asare, has called on President John Mahama to order a full investigation into the reported US$1.7 billion losses linked to the Bank of Ghana’s (BoG) dealings with the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod).

Speaking in a video statement released on Tuesday, August 11, 2026, the former Minister of State in charge of Finance and Atewa East Member of Parliament blew the lid off what she described as an alarming contradiction in the nation’s books, pointing out a massive gap between figures provided by the central bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Osei-Asare noted that while the Bank of Ghana reported a loss of about US$214 million in its 2025 financial statements, the IMF’s latest Article IV consultation report placed losses from the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme at US$1.7 billion.

The disparity leaves a gap of nearly US$1.4 billion that is unaccounted for in public records.

“How did they treat the difference of close to US$1.4 billion? How was it treated that it cannot be seen in the financial statement?” she questioned.

Refusing to let the central bank’s external auditors off the hook, Osei-Asare turned her sights on the firm that signed off on the books.

“I am calling out the accounting firm that audited the Bank of Ghana. They should come clean. We need an explanation of how they treated the difference of US$1.4 billion,” she said.

The PAC Chairperson explained that the US$1.7 billion loss translates to about GH¢22 billion. She described this as a devastating loss for a nation struggling to fund essential public services, pointing out that this exact amount was used during the banking sector clean-up to safeguard the savings of 1.2 million depositors.

She criticized the government’s spending choices, arguing that even a fraction of the missing money could transform critical sectors like health.

“Here we are, GH¢22 billion going down the drain, when we could have used that amount of money to support the recruitment exercise at the Ministry of Health to enable the many nurses who are currently at home to be employed,” she said.

Osei-Asare detailed how GH¢6 billion from the reported loss could have been spent to hire over 10,000 unemployed nurses, boosting healthcare delivery while generating tax revenues for the state.

“If they had spent GH¢6 billion out of the GH¢22 billion, they would employ the nurses, unemployment rates would come down, and these same nurses would help generate more revenue,” she stated, adding: “If you can make a loss of GH¢22 billion, when GH¢6 billion of that loss can be used to employ more than 10,000 nurses, clearly we have a case to tell the people of Ghana.”

The lawmaker also expressed concern over the central bank’s deepening financial trouble, noting that its negative position has ballooned from GH¢58 billion to GH¢93 billion. She criticized the government for allocating only GH¢5 billion to support the central bank while releasing GH¢4.5 billion to another entity just two days before the fiscal year ended.

“You give the Bank of Ghana, which you have helped to make a loss of close to GH¢40 billion, just GH¢5 billion,” she stated.

Calling on President Mahama to take decisive action on underperforming state enterprises, Osei-Asare urged him to review GoldBod’s operations and enforce parliamentary oversight.

“President Mahama, we are asking you to call for proper and further investigations into what is happening at GoldBod. I am temporarily relieved that at least the Bank of Ghana from 1st of July, 2026, is no more spending on GoldBod as it used to be.

President Mahama, somewhere last year, you engaged SOEs and then you mentioned that SOEs that are not making profits or SOEs that are not thriving, you either close them down or you merge them, so we want you to walk the talk. Look into GoldBod.”

She concluded by demanding total transparency and an end to excuses: “Their insults will not make the US$1.7 billion loss go away. We expect transparency, we expect accountability, and not contradictions in the numbers.”