Former Deputy Finance Minister and Atiwa East MP, Abena Osei-Asare, is demanding a clear explanation from the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) over the accounting treatment of GH¢4.5477 billion in government funds reflected in its 2025 financial statements.
According to Mrs Osei-Asare, GoldBod describes the GH¢4.5477 billion as “revolving trade capital” provided by government to support gold purchasing, trading and export operations.
However, she argues that the same amount was recognised in GoldBod’s accounts as grant revenue and subsequently included in the institution’s reported surplus.
She further points to another description of the funds in the annual report as “unutilised government subvention,” while the accounts indicate that the full GH¢4.5477 billion remained at the Bank of Ghana at the end of the financial year.
Mrs Osei-Asare says this raises questions about how funds described as revolving trade capital and reportedly unutilised at year-end could be recognised as revenue contributing to GoldBod’s reported surplus of about GH¢5.44 billion.
She has therefore called on the Directors of GoldBod to explain the accounting basis for the treatment of the funds and provide a reconciliation of the different figures contained in the annual report.
The former Deputy Finance Minister also cited accounting and public financial management rules, including IPSAS 1 and IPSAS 23, which she said require financial statements to appropriately reflect the substance of transactions and clearly distinguish between different forms of government transfers.
She also referenced the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921), particularly Sections 79, 82 and 93, arguing that public financial statements must be properly prepared, consistently classified and capable of providing a true and fair view.
Mrs Osei-Asare raised additional concerns about what she described as inconsistencies in different sections of GoldBod’s annual report, including figures relating to expenditure, surplus, total assets, net assets and GoldBod’s share of profit in GoldBod Jewellery Limited.
She said such inconsistencies should be reconciled, particularly in an audited annual report involving billions of cedis in public resources.
While acknowledging that GoldBod may have generated income from its operations, Mrs Osei-Asare maintained that the treatment of the GH¢4.5477 billion in government funds still requires clarification.
She has also called on the Auditor-General to make available the Management Letter arising from the audit of GoldBod’s accounts, arguing that this would help the public determine whether the issues were identified during the audit and what explanations were provided.
Mrs Osei-Asare stressed that if there is a proper accounting basis for recognising the funds as revenue, GoldBod should state that basis clearly.
She said public funds of such magnitude should not be described as revolving capital in one section of an annual report, unutilised subvention in another and revenue elsewhere without a clear reconciliation.
By: Bernard Mensah
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