The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has categorically refuted claims that newly licensed Money Transfer Operators (MTOs) and 11 fintech companies have withheld $8bn over the past two years.
Responding to reports alleging that approximately $12bn in remittances to Ghana went untracked and unaccounted for by the BoG and the Auditor General from 2018 to 2022, the central bank labelled the accusations as misleading and unfounded.
“The Bank of Ghana does not license MTOs since such companies are based abroad,” the BoG noted in a statement issued on Tuesday (June 25), according to Asaase News.
“The bank, however, conducts due diligence on MTOs who partner with local banks and/or FinTechs to deliver remittances into Ghana as part of the authorisation process.”
The central bank further explained the process, stating, “All remittance inflows are credited to the nostro account of partner banks of Payment Service Providers (PSPs), and 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 $8bn in the last two years (i.e., $5bn in 2022 and $3bn in 2023) due to FinTechs and MTOs withholding same at the expense of the country’s foreign currency reserves is misleading and not grounded on facts,” the statement concluded.
Source: Daily Mail GH
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