The Auditor-General has reported an overstatement of Ghana’s public debt by GH¢138.91 billion in its end of year 2024 report.
This discrepancy is contained in the Whole of Government Accounts (WGA) submitted by the Controller and Accountant-General (CAG).
The variance was ascertained from the figures between the CAG and that of the Ministry of Finance. According to the report, the total public debt reported by the CAG stood at GH¢876.08 billion whereas records from the Ministry of Finance indicated a lower figure of GH¢737.17 billion.
The Auditor-General’s Report for the year ended 31st December 2024, has this details.
Section 54 of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921) mandates a fully and accurate reportage of the public debt, making the discrepancy a violation of the Act.
It also contravenes International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS), particularly IPSAS 1 and IPSAS 35, which emphasise the need for a complete and faithful representation of government financial statements.
The report indicates that external debt was overstated by GH¢1.7 billion with domestic debt being overstated by GH¢132.9billion.
Also, COCOBOD’s domestic debt was overstated by GH¢4.1billion while its external debt was understated by GH¢2.1million.
