The Finance Ministry has yet again been identified as the most fiscally reckless public institution in Ghana, covering the period from 2021 to 2023.
This latest assessment follows a similar ranking the Ministry held between 2015 and 2020.
The finding is part of a new report released by IMANI Africa and Oxfam Ghana, which evaluated financial irregularities among Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) through the third edition of their Fiscal Recklessness Index.
The report places the MoF at the top of the list, followed by the Ministries of Food and Agriculture, Communication and Digitalisation, Roads and Highways, and Health.
During a media briefing on the report’s findings, Dennis Asare, Senior Research Associate at IMANI Africa, revealed that Ghana lost over GH₵ 4.9 billion in 2023 due to various financial irregularities.
Mr Asare stressed that such significant financial losses 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 is considered the most fiscally reckless institution because nearly 90% of the identified irregularities can be traced back to it,” he stated.
He explained that as a central management agency overseeing other institutions, the MoF’s financial mismanagement reflects broader systemic issues.
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.
The report included recommendations to address these challenges, with a particular focus on establishing a more empowered fiscal council.
“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,” Mr Asare urged.