BoG clarifies position on bauxite exports

The Central Bank has reacted to recent media reports which suggested that proceeds from Ghana’s bauxite exports in 2015 was not captured in its 2015 Statements of Foreign Exchange Receipts and Payments report.

Officials of the bank, led by Dr Johnson Asiamah, Second Deputy Governor on Tuesday, 25th April, 2017, appeared before the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament to answer questions related to bauxite export receipts in 2015.

But an impression created was that there was no information on proceeds from bauxite exports for 2015 in the audited accounts.

Alexander Afenyo-Markin, Member of Parliament (MP) for Efutu, raised the concern, noting that about 40,000 metric tonnes of bauxite, worth $41million, was exported in 2015, but that had not been captured in the audited accounts.

However, records on foreign exchange receipts and payments of cocoa, gold, manganese and oil revenue were all provided.

In a statement issued yesterday in Accra from its Communications Department, the bank confirmed the receipts of bauxite export proceeds for 2015.

“We refer to the request by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) during the hearing on the Audited Statements of Bank of Ghana’s Foreign Exchange Receipts and Payments for 2015, and respond as follows that proceeds from the export of bauxite in 2015 of US$41.05 million was captured in the Statement of Foreign Exchange Receipts and Payments of Bank of Ghana as part of non-traditional exports in the Schedule of Earnings of Dealer Commercial Banks in Table 17 of the first half report and Table 18 of the second half report.

“As stated in paragraph three of both reports, repatriation through the commercial banks do not constitute receipts in foreign currency that increase the reserve of the country as managed by Bank of Ghana. That explains why the proceeds from bauxite exports were not captured as part of Bank of Ghana’s foreign exchange receipts and payments reports.

It noted that from the foregoing, it was evident that the $41.05 million proceeds of bauxite had indeed been accounted for in the 2015 Statements of Foreign Exchange Receipts and Payments report.

“The Bank of Ghana can also confirm that total bauxite export volume and value for 2015 was captured in the Balance of Payments statistics, just as in all other years before and after.”