Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson has disclosed that Ghana lost US$31 billion through systematic abuse of Import Declaration Forms (IDFs), leading to significant financial leakages and weakened economic resilience. This alarming revelation was made during the presentation of the 2026 Budget Statement to Parliament.
Between April 2020 and August 2025, more than 525,000 transactions totaling about US$83 billion were processed via the ICUMS (Integrated Customs Management System). However, only 10,440 of those transactions, worth around US$52 billion, were found to correspond to actual imports, the minister explained. He described this gap as not just administrative error, but “an organized system of exploitation, in fact, organized crime.”
According to Forson, some importers under-declared the value of their goods—hiding about GH¢76 billion in imports—and denying the state roughly GH¢11 billion in potential revenue. Also troubling is that over 17,700 IDF applications breached the US$200,000 ceiling set by the Bank of Ghana, allowing some to channel approximately US$20 billion in unverified transfers.
To address the issue, individuals and institutions implicated in the fraud are being referred to investigative bodies including the Attorney-General, the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), the CID, and the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC).Meanwhile, the Ghana Revenue Authority is setting up a special recovery unit, and an inter-agency committee will be established to audit all future import-related transfers.
Dr. Forson warned that these illicit outflows have drained Ghana’s foreign reserves, undermined the cedi, and deprived the economy of vital resources needed for infrastructure and development.
#Vitus@GTS
