The Auditor-General has uncovered a significant discrepancy in Ghana’s reported public debt, revealing an overstatement of GH¢138.91 billion in the Whole of Government Accounts (WGA) submitted by the Controller and Accountant-General (CAG).
According to findings outlined in the Auditor-General’s 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 made this known in a report on the public accounts of Ghana (WHOLE-OF-GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTS) for the year ended December 2024.
This discrepancy violates Section 54 of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921), which mandates that public debt be fully and accurately reported.
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.
According to the report, external debt was overstated by GHS1.7 billion and domestic debt by GHS132.9billion.
For COCOBOD loan, domestic debt was overstated by GHS4.1billion while its external debt was understated by GHS2.1million.
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