Bank of Ghana frames gold programme losses as strategic sacrifice
The Bank of Ghana has defended its Domestic Gold Purchase Programme (DGPP), describing the initiative as a stabilisation policy that deliberately traded financial losses for economic resilienc
Governor Dr Johnson Pandit Asiama, speaking before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee on January 12, explained that the programme was launched at a time when Ghana’s reserves were dangerously thin and confidence in the economy was faltering.
“Its purpose was clear: to strengthen reserves, stabilise the currency, and create space for macroeconomic recovery by leveraging Ghana’s own natural endowment,” he said.
According to Dr Asiama, the central bank accepted the financial strain as part of a national strategy.
“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 told lawmakers.
Losses recorded between 2022 and 2024 were presented to the Committee, with the Governor stressing that they reflected market stress and unavoidable trade-offs rather than mismanagement. He pointed to timing issues and foreign exchange conversion effects as the main drivers, noting that differences between local gold transactions and offshore dollar conversions distorted outcomes.
He rejected the popular claim that the Bank bought gold at inflated prices only to sell at lower ones.
“To be clear, the narrative that the Bank ‘buys gold at high prices and sells at low prices’ is incorrect,” Dr Asiama said.
“Transactions are conducted at prevailing market prices.”
Settlement delays, transaction costs, and the stabilisation mandate, he explained, all shaped the results.
Despite the financial hit, the Governor argued that the programme achieved its core objectives: strengthening reserves, improving liquidity, and reducing the pass-through of exchange rate volatility into inflation. He urged that the policy be judged in its historical context, not reduced to partisan soundbites.
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