Deputy Ranking Member on Parliament’s Finance Committee and Member of Parliament for the Tano North Constituency, Dr Gideon Boako, has criticised the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Johnson Asiamah, for what he describes as a politically motivated attempt to alter existing Bank of Ghana accounting reporting approach to declare losses in the 2024 financial statement and blame it on the Gold-for-Oil programme.

In a statement issued on Thursday, June 6, Dr. Gideon Boako called on the Governor to “speak like a Governor and stop the needless politicking”.

Dr Boako argued that central banks are not designed to be profit-making entities and should not be compared to commercial banks. 

“Central banks provide public goods, and their services are not charged for. Currency printing is distributed free, and the public doesn’t pay for using the currency printed,” he explained. 

He further clarified that nearly 90.6% of the BoG’s 2024 losses stemmed from Open Market Operations (OMO), a key tool in managing liquidity and inflation, while the losses attributable to the gold for life programme, about 18.9%, are essentially exchange losses.

He revealed that the BoG board had voted to alter the accounting policy for 2024 by shifting from IMF-recommended practices to those strictly outlined in the BoG Act. 

“All the gains previously reported in the operating account have been moved to Other Comprehensive Income (OCI)… this resulted in an operating loss, but a gain in OCI,” Dr Boako stated, noting that despite the reported loss, the Bank’s negative equity had actually decreased.

Dr Boako questioned the motive behind the change in reporting, asserting that it was designed to create a perception of continued mismanagement under current leadership. 

“It is evident that the board’s intention was to ensure that the public perceives BoG management in 2024 as making a loss once again,” he said. 

According to Dr. Boako, "there was certainly a problem with the application of the standards and the BoG law on the treatment of certain items in the 2024 financial statement. I call it Accounting Mismatch."

He added that the new accounting approach must be applied consistently in 2025, signalling his intent to closely monitor the Bank’s reporting going forward.