The Ministry of Finance has once again been adjudged the most fiscally reckless state institution in the country between 2021 and 2023.
This is a position the Ministry had attained between the period of 2015 and 2020 after a similar assessment had been carried for the period in question.
The finding is contained in a report by Policy and Education think tank, IMANI Africa and Oxfam Ghana, assessing financial irregularities amongst Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) through the third edition of their Fiscal Recklessness Index.
According to the report, Ghana lost almost GHC5 billion as a result of fiscal recklessness for the year in review.
The Ministries of Food and Agriculture, Communication and Digitalisation, Roads and Highways and Health, followed the Finance Ministry in terms of fiscal recklessness for the period.
At a media briefing Wednesday, October 23, 2024, to present the report findings, Dennis Asare, a Senior Research Associate at IMANI Africa, disclosed that the financial irregularities recorded by the various institutions cost the nation over GHC4.9 billion in 2023.
The wasted sum, according to Mr. Asare, could have been redirected to social intervention programmes, including the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) initiative and the Ghana School Feeding Programme.
“The Ministry of Finance tops the list of MDAs as the most fiscally reckless institution between 2021 and 2023. The Ministry of Finance recorded an FRI score of 0.9038, which translates to about 90 per cent of financial infractions traced to the Ministry of Finance. The Ministry of Finance is followed by the Ministry of Communication, the Ministry of Roads and Highways, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture as the top five fiscally reckless institutions for the period of assessment,” said Mr. Asare.
According to IMANI Africa, “Financial irregularities by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) reported between 2021 and 2023 are estimated at GHC4.89 billion, almost ten times the cost of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty programme in 2023. While the financial irregularities have declined compared to GHC13.94 billion recorded between 2015 and 2020, the incidence of financial irregularities linked to taxes has worsened between 2021 and 2023.”.
The Finance Ministry’s mismanagement, he noted, reflects a broader systemic challenge since it is the central management body supervising other institutions.
Asare also clarified that the fiscal recklessness extends beyond the Ministry’s headquarters to other agencies under its oversight. A key issue identified in the report was the government’s failure in tax collection, pointing to gaps in revenue mobilization efforts.
Asare disclosed as contained in the report’s recommendations that the institution of a fiscal council is paramount in addressing these issues.
“We need a stronger fiscal council, not just a committee. All political parties agree on the importance of such an institution. Now is the time to formalize it with legal backing and ensure it has the authority to perform its critical oversight functions effectively,” said Asare.
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