The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has tightened controls and reduced transaction costs under its Domestic Gold Purchase Programme following the recording of audited losses over several years.

Governor Dr Johnson Pandit Asiama told Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee that the programme, introduced in 2021, was a stabilisation intervention at a time of severe foreign exchange stress, not a profit-making venture.

“Since the inception of the DGPP, the Bank of Ghana carried the financial burden of a national strategic policy – deliberately, and in the national interest,” he said.

The Governor acknowledged losses recorded between 2022 and 2024, explaining they were driven by timing differences between local gold purchases and international sales, foreign exchange conversion effects, and structural costs in dore gold transactions.

“These losses should be understood in the context of a stabilisation mandate operating during extreme market stress,” he said.

Dr Asiama rejected claims that the Bank bought gold at high prices and sold at lower prices, insisting transactions were conducted at prevailing market prices.

“To be clear, the narrative that the Bank ‘buys gold at high prices and sells at low prices’ is incorrect,” he said.

He said major reforms were introduced in 2025, including ring-fencing of gold proceeds, stricter settlement rules and reduced fees.

Gold shipments are now conditional on full payment or bank guarantees, while off-taker discounts, agent fees and assay charges have been cut, lowering total transaction costs to about 1.7 per cent.

“It is evident that cost structures have been improved through reductions in discounts, agent fees, and assay charges,” he told the Committee.

Dr Asiama said further reforms are planned for 2026, including structured hedging, cost renegotiation and a gradual withdrawal of direct Bank of Ghana funding.

“The Domestic Gold Purchase Programme did not begin in 2025, nor has it been abandoned,” he said, adding that it is being refined to ensure sustainability.