In a startling revelation during the presentation of the 2026 budget statement of the government, Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson exposed a massive abuse of Ghana’s import system, warning that the country has potentially lost US$31 billion through illicit financial flows masquerading as import transactions.
Between April 2020 and March 2025, the Ministry of Finance found that over 525,000 transactions, amounting to US$83 billion, were processed through the Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS) via Import Declaration Forms (IDFs).
However, only 10,440 of those transactions, equivalent to about US$52 billion, were actually linked to real goods being imported. The remaining US$31 billion, according to the Minister, was transferred abroad despite no corresponding imports.
Dr. Forson did not mince words: this was not a clerical mistake, but a deliberate, organised form of exploitation.
Using a striking example to illustrate how ordinary business operators contribute to the problem, he revealed that between April 2020 and March 2025, a total of $31 billion was laundered under the guise of import transactions, although no goods ever entered the country.
Presenting the 2026 budget statement and economic policy, Dr Ato Forson noted that the Import Declaration Form (IDF) system — a customs instrument managed by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) through the Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS) — showed clear discrepancies.
According to him, from April 2020 to March 2025, individuals who processed import invoices declared a total equivalent of $81 billion (including currencies such as Yuan, Pounds Sterling, and Euros) as expected imports into Ghana. Out of this sum, however, an equivalent of $31 billion had no corresponding imported goods.
“And these are importers, it is the foreign currency [the pressure on the cedi], no wonder the currency was depreciating that much. So you say that you are transferring money. It is more or less money laundering, taking money out of Ghana without paying the required taxes. We have done the work, we’ve now seen it, we’ve handed it over to investigative agencies, and now we will go for the tax,” Dr Ato Forson said while explaining the budget statement on UTV.
He added that the banks were also implicated, noting that he had written to the Bank of Ghana to impose regulatory sanctions.
He stressed, “And I want answers from the Bank of Ghana. If any bank has flouted any rule, I expect punishment. This cannot continue as a country. Because look, the same people will turn around and complain when the currency collapses.”
