President John Dramani Mahama has announced that his administration will begin taking action against individuals involved in the unauthorized transfer of over $42 billion out of Ghana over the past four years without corresponding imports.
Addressing journalists at his maiden Meet the Press series on September 10, 2025, in Accra, the President expressed concern over what he described as a worrying trend of capital flight, which he noted has significantly contributed to the depreciation of the cedi.
“Over the period of four years about 42 billion dollars was taken out of this country without the corresponding imports coming into the country and so we started sanctioning some banks and soon we’ll start interrogating some individuals who ostensibly took money out against imports but never brought those imports,” President Mahama stated.
He disclosed that several banks found to be complicit in the dubious transactions have already been sanctioned, with investigations into the individuals involved expected to commence soon.
“We want to know what happened and if there was wrongdoing to sanction whoever it is,” he added.
Commenting on the recent fluctuations in the exchange rate, President Mahama defended the depreciation of the cedi, describing it as a “market correction” following earlier interventions by the Bank of Ghana.
The local currency, which had strengthened from approximately GHS 14 to GHS 10.50 per US dollar in recent months, has weakened again to about GHS 12.20 per dollar over the past month.
Looking ahead, the President assured that government policy will seek to ensure greater stability of the cedi, stating that “in future government policy aims to limit annual depreciation to no more than five percent.”
“The cedi is making an adjustment, and I believe that it will settle at a certain rate and we will make sure that any depreciation that occurs in the value of the cedi is within a margin of about five percent per annum” He concluded.
President Mahama’s comments underscore a renewed commitment by the government to strengthen Ghana’s financial regulatory framework and crack down on illicit forex activities.
