Politics

Bawumia criticises NDC over GH¢1.7bn gold reserves loss

The Crystal Clear LENS 4 days ago 2 min read

New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has criticised the government’s handling of Ghana’s gold reserves, blaming its decision to trade part of the holdings for losses estimated at GH¢1.7 billion.

He argues that the financial setback could have been avoided if the government had maintained the original approach of accumulating gold to strengthen the country’s international reserves rather than engaging in gold trading.

Speaking at a town hall meeting in Tokyo, Japan, Dr Bawumia called for a shift in the implementation of the Gold for Reserves programme, insisting that its primary objective should be to build up the country’s gold holdings.

“If they had followed the way that we had wanted to do the Gold for Reserves programme in terms of accumulating reserves, those losses would not have been made. But once you decide to start trading in gold, you will make those losses,” he said.

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The former Vice-President’s remarks come amid growing debate over the Bank of Ghana’s gold transactions and the financial implications of its management of the country’s reserves.

The Gold for Reserves programme was introduced to strengthen Ghana’s international reserves by purchasing and accumulating gold. However, Dr Bawumia believes the strategy should focus on retaining the commodity as part of the country’s reserve assets rather than trading it.

He maintained that the reported GH¢1.7 billion loss was avoidable and attributed it to what he considers a departure from the programme’s original reserve-accumulation objective.

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