The Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Anthony Kwasi Sarpong, has disclosed that the country may have lost over GH¢11 billion in revenue due to trade-related leakages over a five-year period.
According to him, a review conducted by the Authority and the Ministry of Finance uncovered significant discrepancies between funds transferred out of the country for trade and the actual value of goods received.
Speaking on the Gold Morning Conversation on Radio Gold, Mr Sarpong described the findings as “staggering and shocking.”
He explained that approximately $83 billion was transferred out of Ghana in the name of trade within the period under review, but only about $31 billion worth of goods were recorded as having been imported.
“This means that the difference went out either for trade and we did not get the benefit of it, or it was used for something else,” he said.
The GRA boss noted that the development raises serious concerns about possible under-declaration of imports, misclassification of goods, or the transfer of funds through unaccounted channels.
“When we quantified it, we estimated that over GH¢11 billion in revenue-related leakages had occurred,” he stated.
Mr Sarpong attributed the situation partly to excessive human intervention in the trade and customs processes, which he said creates opportunities for errors and collusion. He stressed the need to strengthen systems through automation to reduce manipulation and improve transparency.
“We realised that there are too many human interventions in the process, which allow errors or even collusion. So, we need to automate more to reduce under-declaration and misclassification,” he explained.
The Commissioner-General added that the Authority is implementing reforms, including the adoption of technological solutions such as Publican AI, to tighten controls and safeguard revenue.
The revelations come amid ongoing efforts by government to improve domestic revenue mobilisation and curb financial leakages within the economy.
