The Bank of Ghana (BoG), has denied allegations that the country has lost approximately US$ 8 billion in the past
two years as a result of FinTechs and Money Transfer Operators (MTO) withholding inward remittances at the expense of the country’s foreign currency reserves.
According to BoG, such speculations are baseless and does not have facts.
Media reports had suggested that Ghana in 2022 and 2023 lost (US$ 3 billion and US$ 5 billion in remittances respectively.
The BoG responding to such accusations clarified that “Ghana has seen a consistent increase in remittance
inflows year-on-year (Bank of Ghana and World Bank data). The Bank of Ghana does not license MTOs since such companies are based abroad. The Bank, however, conducts due diligence on MTOs who partner local banks
and/or FinTechs to deliver remittances into Ghana as part of the authorisation process. Furthermore, all remittance inflows are credited to the nostro account of partner banks of Payment Service Providers (PSPs), as such, no PSP holds any forex inflows from inward remittances. The partner bank credits the local cedi
accounts of PSPs for onward transfer to beneficiaries.
“Based on the above, the assertion that the country has lost US$8 Billion in the last two years (i.e, US$ 5 Billion in 2022 and US$3 Billion in 2023) based on FinTechs and MTOs withholding same at the expense of the country’s foreign currency reserves is misleading and not grounded on facts, part of a BoG statement read.
Also, the BoG noted that it does not operate two separate foreign exchange systems.
“Bank of Ghana does not and has not licensed any MTO. Additionally, Ghana does not operate two foreign exchange systems. Both banks and FinTechs who engage in inward remittance services do regularly submit
prudential returns to the Bank of Ghana as part of their regulatory obligations. Banks and FinTechs have the responsibility of complying with the Foreign Exchange Act, 2006 (Act 723) and other legal and regulatory
requirements.”
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