{"id":77737,"date":"2025-07-21T11:17:27","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T11:17:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=77737"},"modified":"2025-07-21T11:17:27","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T11:17:27","slug":"isser-director-warns-black-market-forex-trade-is-fueling-tax-evasion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=77737","title":{"rendered":"ISSER Director warns black market forex trade is fueling tax evasion"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='booster-block booster-read-block'>\n                <div class=\"twp-read-time\">\n                \t<i class=\"booster-icon twp-clock\"><\/i> <span>Read Time:<\/span>1 Minute, 58 Second                <\/div>\n\n            <\/div><div>\n<p>The Director of the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), Professor Peter Quartey, has warned that the rising preference for black market and forex bureau transactions is fuelling under-invoicing and tax evasion in Ghana.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking on Joy FM\u2019s Super Morning Show on Monday, July 21, Prof Quartey cautioned that many importers and traders deliberately avoid the formal banking system to conceal the true value of their transactions and evade taxes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnfortunately for our brothers and sisters in the Ghana Union of Traders\u2019 Associations (GUTA) and the rest, they prefer to transact in cash. They don\u2019t want to use the banking system because when you do that, government can track the value of your imports, so you pay the appropriate taxes,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo, they prefer to deal in the black market, deal in physical cash, where issues of under-invoicing and all those can happen so they beat how much tax they pay. That is the problem,\u201d Prof Quartey added.<\/p>\n<p><strong>No Dollar Shortage in Banks<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>His comments come in response to recent complaints from business operators, particularly importers, who claim there is a shortage of US dollars in the banking system.<\/p>\n<p>Prof Quartey dismissed those claims, clarifying that there is no scarcity of foreign currency in the formal sector. According to him, banks are encouraging electronic transfers and cheque payments over large-scale cash withdrawals to improve safety and financial accountability.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you have an account and you want to import with all the necessary documentation, there is no problem\u2014there is no limit on how much you can pay. It is only those who insist on physical cash without having deposited any, that are having difficulties,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n<p><iframe width=\"800\" height=\"500\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6p8Un4-Tqrw?si=vDFv9W5wtLYjGwO9\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Call for Transparency<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Prof Quartey urged traders, importers, and exporters to use the regulated banking system to ensure transparency and support national revenue mobilisation efforts.<\/p>\n<p>He emphasised the need for collective education and awareness to promote cashless transactions and reduce reliance on informal forex markets, which, he warned, distort the economy and undermine tax collection.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are saying we are moving cashless, yet people want to trade in forex using huge sums of physical cash. It is not safe and it is not sustainable,\u201d he cautioned.<\/p>\n<p>Prof Quartey\u2019s remarks come at a time when the government is intensifying efforts to clamp down on tax evasion and illicit financial flows.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n        <div class=\"booster-block booster-reactions-block\">\n            <div class=\"twp-reactions-icons\">\n                \n                <div class=\"twp-reacts-wrap\">\n                    <a react-data=\"be-react-1\" post-id=\"77737\" class=\"be-face-icons un-reacted\" href=\"javascript:void(0)\">\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/wp-content\/plugins\/booster-extension\/\/assets\/icon\/happy.svg\" alt=\"Happy\">\n                    <\/a>\n                    <div class=\"twp-reaction-title\">\n                        Happy                    <\/div>\n                    <div class=\"twp-count-percent\">\n                                                    <span style=\"display: none;\" 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src=\"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/wp-content\/plugins\/booster-extension\/\/assets\/icon\/surprise.svg\" alt=\"Surprise\">\n                    <\/a>\n                    <div class=\"twp-reaction-title\">Surprise<\/div>\n                    <div class=\"twp-count-percent\">\n                                                    <span style=\"display: none;\" class=\"twp-react-count\">0<\/span>\n                                                                        <span class=\"twp-react-percent\"><span>0<\/span> %<\/span>\n                                            <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n\n            <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n\n    ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myjoyonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Untitled-16-150x150.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"ISSER Director warns black market forex trade is fueling tax evasion\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"ISSER Director warns black market forex trade is fueling tax evasion\">The Director of the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), Professor Peter Quartey, has cautioned against the growing reliance on the black market and forex bureaux for foreign exchange transactions.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=77737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77737\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=77737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=77737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=77737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}