A motion to create an ad hoc committee to look into the Gold-for-Reserves scheme is filed by the minority.
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The Minority in Parliament has filed a resolution to establish an ad hoc committee to probe the Bank of Ghana’s (BoG) Gold-for-Reserves scheme and $214 million in gold losses.
Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Member of Parliament for Ofoase Ayirebi, stated that the purpose of the Ad Hoc Committee will be to investigate, among other things, the reported foreign exchange losses sustained by the Bank of Ghana as a result of the scheme, the roles of relevant State institutions, the integrity of supply-chain due diligence and traceability systems, the risk of acquiring illegally sourced gold, and accountability issues arising from it.
Earlier, on Monday, December, during a news conference in Parliament, Mr. Oppong Nkrumah stated that the Bank of Ghana’s $214 million gold losses should not be attributed to market swings.
The opposition lawmaker claimed that the method was designed to cause the state to bleed and incur losses.
He remarked, “The IMF has already mentioned that 214 million dollars worth of trading losses have been occasioned in the first nine months of this year.”
“As a caucus, when we round our numbers, we can project that it is going to get to about 300 million dollars by the end of this year.”
“$214 million losses under the gold for revenues is just nine months, but there are a few issues under that that we will want to draw your attention to.”
“First is to explain to you how these losses are being occasioned. Small-scale miners will not sell unless they are paid through global market prices, even if a slight discount is given to them and at an exchange rate which the forex bureau uses.”
“The Goldbod, therefore, has to pay miners at real market value. However, Goldbod then sells dollars it receives from offshore buyers back to the BoG at a BoG or interbank rate, which is a weaker rate. Goldbod protects its host by passing the exchange rate losses directly onto the BoG.”
“So this is not a market fluctuation problem. This is a system that is designed to make losses, and the state to bleed, so the intermediary will remain secure and profitable.”
Full Statement Below:
Source: newsthemegh.com
