The Bank of Ghana has clarified reports suggesting it has been underreporting remittance inflows.
The Bank of Ghana has recently faced scrutiny regarding discrepancies in remittance inflow figures reported by the World Bank and its own consolidated statements of foreign exchange receipts and payments.
Concerns were raised after comparing the World Bank’s reported $20.7 billion in remittances flowing into Ghana from 2018 to 2022 with the $9.5 billion reported by the Auditor General’s reports on the Bank of Ghana’s consolidated statements for the same period.
This discrepancy led to allegations of underreporting by the Central Bank.
The Bank of Ghana has since clarified the figures.
In an exclusive interview with Channel One Business, the Director of Communications at the Bank of Ghana, Bernard Otabil, explained that the difference in reporting scope is the primary reason for the higher figures reported by the World Bank compared to those reported by the Bank of Ghana.
“The problem is a lack of understanding of the issues. The figures they have captured are the BoP that we published. What they got wrong is that the figure you see is a net position, which captures both inflows and outflows. But if you look at the inflows, which we have, they are largely aligned with the World Bank’s.”
“Without this understanding, we will see people put out misleading information. Our figures are aligned and is there is no cause for alarm,” he added.
To support its claim, the Bank of Ghana shared with Channel One Business data that suggests Ghana recorded $4.97 million in inward remittances in 2015, consistent with World Bank figures.
The data also shows that in 2022, both the Bank of Ghana and the World Bank reported $4.16 million in inward remittances.
Source:Citinews
