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Ghana has lost billions of dollars and cedis through the suspected abuse of Import Declaration Forms (IDFs), Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Baah Forson revealed while presenting the 2026 Budget in Parliament on Thursday.
The Ministry of Finance conducted a comprehensive assessment of the country’s import transaction processes, uncovering widespread exploitation of IDFs, a tool intended to support legitimate trade but now hijacked for illicit transfers and tax evasion.
Between April 2020 and August 2025, more than 525,000 transactions worth US$83 billion were processed through the Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS). Only 10,440 of these transactions were linked to actual imports. An estimated US$31 billion was transferred abroad with no goods imported, draining foreign reserves and weakening the Ghana cedi.
The audit also revealed that some importers under-declared the value of imports by about GH¢76 billion, denying the government approximately GH¢11 billion in potential revenue.
Other importers inflated transfer values, aided by some banks that ignored the US$200,000 transfer limit set by the Bank of Ghana. Over 17,700 IDF applications broke this limit, channeling an estimated US$20 billion in unverified transfers.
“This was not a loophole; it was an organised system of exploitation. In fact, an organised crime,” Dr. Forson said.
Individuals and institutions implicated in the abuse have been referred to the Attorney-General, the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), and the Criminal Investigations Department (CID).
To recover lost funds and prevent further abuse, the Ghana Revenue Authority will establish a special recovery unit, while an Inter-Agency Committee will audit all import-related transfers going forward. The Bank of Ghana will match every forex transfer with verified import data.
According to Dr. Ato Forson, the measures are aimed at protecting the integrity of the import system and ensuring every dollar sent abroad is matched by genuine economic value for the Ghanaian people.
