Private legal practitioner and policy analyst Austin Kwabena Brako-Powers has expressed strong confidence in International Monetary Fund (IMF) data indicating a $214 million operational loss linked to transactions between the Bank of Ghana (BoG) and the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), describing local explanations of the losses as hurried and unconvincing.
Brako-Powers criticised what he describes as inconsistent and shifting explanations by GoldBod leadership, particularly Chief Executive Officer Sammy Gyamfi, over the reported losses. Speaking on TV3’s Big Issues, the lawyer questioned the credibility of GoldBod’s response to the IMF findings.
The IMF noted in its fifth review report, “In 2025 through end Q3, losses from the artisanal and small scale doré gold transactions component of Gold for Reserves (G4R) have reached US$214 million (0.2 percent of GDP), mostly on trading losses but also on GoldBod off takers’ fees”.
However, speaking on TV3’s Key Points program on Saturday, December 27, 2025, Gyamfi clarified that the IMF’s reported figure of a US$214 million loss relates to accounting assessments concerning the Bank of Ghana’s Gold for Reserve programme, and not to the financial performance of the GoldBod. He stressed that at no point did the IMF state that the Ghana Gold Board itself had incurred losses.
Gyamfi disclosed that, based on unaudited financial statements, GoldBod is expected to declare an income surplus of not less than 600 million cedis for the year 2025. He explained that GoldBod’s role in 2025 was limited to buying gold locally, testing its quality, and exporting it for the Bank of Ghana. He said the sale and trading of the gold is the sole responsibility of the Bank of Ghana.
Addressing the IMF’s assessment of losses under the Gold for Reserve programme, Gyamfi said the matter relates to unresolved accounting and financial reporting treatments, which the Bank of Ghana is currently discussing with the IMF and its external auditors.
Member of Parliament for Manso Nkwanta, Tweneboa Kodua Fokuo, has described the response by the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board as unfortunate. Gyamfi has indicated that he will provide a detailed response to the IMF report and related concerns starting January 5, 2026.
The Chairman of the Economic and Development Committee of Parliament, Eric Afful, accused the New Patriotic Party (NPP) of intentionally making allegations to render Ghana’s economic gains useless. “The $214 million the NPP is quoting is a transactional cost of the GoldBod, and you cannot determine this as a loss because, as we speak today we do not have the financials of the GoldBod,” he said.
While GoldBod itself has indeed recorded profits, those gains have come at the expense of the central bank, which has absorbed the bulk of the losses generated by the programme. The IMF has warned that this arrangement poses risks to the Bank of Ghana’s financial position, stating plainly that the domestic gold purchase programme poses risks to the financial sustainability of the BoG.
Gyamfi highlighted that under the NPP administration, audited losses under the Gold for Oil and Gold for Reserves schemes in 2023 and 2024 totaled approximately 7 billion cedis. He contrasted economic performance, noting the cedi depreciated 27.8% in 2023 and 19.2% in 2024 amid 22.3% and 23.8% inflation rates, versus 2025’s 35% cedi appreciation and inflation dropping from 23.8% to 6.3% over 11 months.
According to the Chief Executive Officer of GoldBod, the Board is expected to fully take over the artisanal and small scale gold trading programme from January 2026, meaning GoldBod would no longer operate as an intermediary for the Bank of Ghana.
The debate continues as stakeholders await Gyamfi’s detailed response in January 2026 and the release of audited financial statements for both GoldBod and the Bank of Ghana’s Gold for Reserves programme.