Economist and Associate Professor of Finance at Andrews University, USA, Williams Kwasi Peprah, says the Ministry of Finance must take over the funding of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) to ensure the sustainability of its operations.

His comments follow an announcement by the Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) that the central bank has stopped providing funding support to GoldBod since July 1 this year..

Speaking on JoyNews’ The Pulse, on Wednesday, July 22, Mr Peprah said the withdrawal of funding by the central bank could create operational challenges for the gold trading body if alternative financing arrangements are not secured.

In his view, since the BoG is no longer funding GoldBod, the responsibility should now shift to the Ministry of Finance.

"The GoldBod module, as we all know, is going to change. It is going to affect where they get financing from. The Bank of Ghana was giving them loans to do the purchasing."

• Read also: MPC keeps policy rate at 14%, cites inflation risks due to Middle East tensions

Mr Peprah added that he expects the Finance Minister to clarify the government’s funding plans for GoldBod during the mid-year budget review expected to be presented to Parliament.

"I am hoping that the finance minister tomorrow will have to tell us that, yes, they have given a lot of money in terms of government equity to GoldBod to be able to run their operation, or they are allowing GoldBod to go into the open market to borrow," he said.

"I fear that, if GoldBod goes into the open market to borrow, we may see a little bit of crowding out there, because all the banks will prefer to deal with the company that buys and sells gold; that is the only major impact," he added.