You have 21 days to clarify under-reporting of remittances – Dr Atuahene to BoG

Banking Consultant Dr Richmond Atuahene has given the Bank of Ghana 21 days to clarify the significant gap between its data on remittance inflows to Ghana and the figures tracked by the World Bank.

According to Dr Atuahene, the central bank has been under-reporting total receipts from remittances, allowing some FinTech and other payment platforms to withhold significant forex to the detriment of the state.

In the space of remittances, available data from the World Bank and the Bank of Ghana have contrasted each other. While the World Bank tracked a total of about $20.7 billion as remittances inflow to Ghana from 2018 to 2022, the Auditor General’s  reports on the Bank of Ghana’s consolidated statements of foreign exchange receipts and payments within the same period tracked and accounted for only $9.5 billion, leaving a gap of some $11.2 billion.

Responding to the Bank of Ghana’s rejoinder on FinTech and remittances, Dr Atuahene stated that the central bank was under-reporting cash flows from remittances.

He demanded that the bank provide data within 21-days to explain why the World Bank figures are relatively higher than those captured in the Audited General’s forex report.

“I’m giving them 21 days because I have more data and I’m going to reveal it, because you cannot challenge the World Bank data, which I have confirmed,” he lamented.

“You are under-reporting, and this under-reporting comes because of the role of the FinTech,” Dr Atuahene stressed.

Atuahene argued that the apex bank’s rejoinder was baseless and failed to address the widening gap between remittance receipts it captured and those reported by the World Bank.

“So I’m giving them 21 days, let them retract it and let them get the data and the facts right. Other than that, I’ll continue to release the data and explain the data to the public,” he demanded.