The Bank of Ghana has dismissed recent media reports alleging that $8 billion has been withheld by newly licensed Money Transfer Operators (MTOs) and 11 FinTech companies over the past two years.
According to the reports, approximately $12 billion in remittances to Ghana went untracked and unaccounted for by the Bank of Ghana and the Auditor General between 2018 and 2022.
These reports highlighted discrepancies in remittance inflow data between the World Bank and the Bank of Ghana.
The World Bank recorded $21.1 billion in remittances to Ghana from 2018 to 2022, while the Auditor General’s reports on the Bank of Ghana’s consolidated statements of foreign exchange receipts and payments accounted for only $9.5 billion, suggesting a gap of about $11.6 billion.
Additionally, the reports mentioned that the Bank of Ghana’s 2023 annual financial statement indicated that 11 licensed FinTech companies provided inward remittance services, with remittances totaling GH¢57 billion (US$5 billion) in 2023, up from GH¢18 billion (US$3 billion) in 2022.
In response, the Central Bank stated that Ghana has experienced a consistent increase in remittance inflows year-on-year, as confirmed by data from both the Bank of Ghana and the World Bank.
The Bank of Ghana clarified that it does not license MTOs, as these companies are based abroad.
However, it conducts due diligence on MTOs that partner with local banks and/or FinTechs to deliver remittances into Ghana as part of the authorization process.
The Bank of Ghana emphasized that all remittance inflows are credited to the nostro accounts of partner banks of Payment Service Providers (PSPs), and no PSP holds any forex inflows from inward remittances. The partner bank credits the local cedi accounts of PSPs for onward transfer to beneficiaries.
Therefore, the claim that the country has lost US$8 billion in the past two years due to FinTechs and MTOs withholding funds is misleading and not grounded in facts.
Furthermore, the Bank of Ghana dismissed assertions that Ghana operates two foreign exchange systems. Both banks and FinTechs engaging in inward remittance services regularly submit prudential returns to the Bank of Ghana as part of their regulatory obligations.
They are also responsible for complying with the Foreign Exchange Act, 2006 (Act 723), and other legal and regulatory requirements.
