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.
According to him, the IMF and the World Bank rely on credible domestic and international data sources, making their assessments more reliable than figures and narratives being advanced locally in response to the controversy surrounding the Gold-for-Reserves programme.
“On this subject, I place greater confidence in IMF data than in hurried local explanations,” he said adding that the credibility of international financial institutions lies in their rigorous data validation processes and independence from domestic political pressures.
The IMF, in its report on Ghana, flagged a $214 million operational loss incurred by the Bank of Ghana under the Gold-for-Reserve (G4R) Programme, describing it as unsustainable.
Reacting to the report, Mr Brako-Powers criticised the handling of the matter by the leadership of GoldBod, arguing that inconsistent public communication has further muddied the waters rather than clarified the true nature of the losses.
He pointed out that GoldBod’s position shifted from an outright denial of any losses to an admission and later to the claim that the institution was never established to make a profit, a sequence he described as troubling and confusing.
“I think the handling of this matter by the GoldBod leadership has even muddied the situation. It was first an outright denial, then to an admission then later they are saying that GoldBod was not constituted to make profit,” he said.
In his view, the debate should move away from denial and political spin to a frank admission of the facts. “We just have to admit that these are operational losses,” he stated.
He explained that the losses are structurally embedded in the current operating model, noting that buying gold at a premium and selling it internationally at discounted prices will, by simple arithmetic, inevitably result in losses.
“If you buy gold at a premium and sell it at a discounted price, you will obviously incur losses,” he said, stressing that this reality cannot be explained away through public relations.
Mr Brako-Powers argued that the focus should now be on reviewing and remodelling GoldBod’s operational strategy to address these structural weaknesses and plug the loopholes that continue to expose the Bank of Ghana to financial losses.
He added that if the Ministry of Finance decides to absorb or cushion the losses as a deliberate policy choice, that option should be clearly stated and transparently justified to the public.
“What we must not do is pretend the losses do not exist when the truth is staring us in the face,” he cautioned.
The lawyer further criticised what he described as a “politics of convenience,” where facts are acknowledged only when they align with political interests and denied when they do not.
“A loss is a loss,” Brako-Powers concluded, calling for honesty, consistency, and evidence-based policymaking in managing the BoG–GoldBod relationship and restoring public confidence in Ghana’s economic governance.
