There is a dangerous fiction being authored at the Bank of Ghana (BoG), and the Chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Abena Osei-Asare, has decided to tear up the script. In a move that signals a looming constitutional showdown, the Atiwa East lawmaker has demanded an immediate parliamentary probe into the central bank’s finances, alleging that the institution is using national gold reserves to hide a catastrophic collapse of its balance sheet.
The numbers released in the BoG’s 2025 Annual Report are an indictment of the current administration’s fiscal management. The report admits to an operating loss of 15.63 billion cedis, but it is the negative equity—now standing at a staggering 93.82 billion cedis—that reveals the true extent of the rot. For those who have followed the bank’s downward trajectory from a 58.62 billion cedi deficit just a year ago, this is not a dip; it is a freefall.
The Accounting Mirage
The former Deputy Finance Minster’s primary charge is one of systemic deception. She alleges that the bank has moved away from International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) to mask the full scale of its losses. By “departing” from these global standards, the bank has effectively created a shadow ledger that obscures the true cost of its market interventions from both Parliament and the public.
The PAC Chair is now demanding that the Governor, the Finance Minister, and external auditors be hauled before a joint committee to disclose the “recalculated” reality. The demand is simple: if the bank is insolvent, the Ghanaian taxpayer—who will ultimately bear the burden of any recapitalization—deserves to see the true depth of the hole.
Liquidation Disguised as Stability
The most explosive part of Osei-Asare’s critique is her exposure of the bank’s “gold-for-survival” strategy. She argues that the only reason the reported losses aren’t significantly higher is that the bank has been aggressively liquidating gold assets to shore up its liquidity.
“You cannot liquidate assets to cover losses and call it stability,” Osei-Asare noted. She pointed out the glaring absurdity of the government’s current policy: the bank is selling off existing gold reserves to plug holes in its 2025 accounts, while simultaneously proposing a new, quarter-of-a-trillion-cedi programme to rebuild those very same reserves. It is, in essence, an economic “Ponzi scheme” where national assets are sacrificed to fund administrative incompetence.
The Recapitalization Trap
As the bank’s equity continues to bleed, the question of a bailout becomes unavoidable. Osei-Asare has preemptively demanded the publication of the “Recapitalization MoU.” She is seeking clarity on whether the government intends to use cash injections, write-offs, or the issuance of new bonds—all of which would pile further debt onto the backs of future generations.
The PAC’s demand for an independent review of gold-related transactions and policy costs is more than just political oversight; it is a salvage mission. After four straight years of massive deficits under the current regime, the Bank of Ghana has transitioned from a lender of last resort to a liability of the first order. As the Atiwa East MP rightly argues, you cannot rebuild a nation on a bankrupt foundation. The time for “voodoo” accounting is over; the time for a forensic audit has arrived.
