The Institute for Liberty and Policy Innovation (ILAPI) has urged the government to abandon any attempt to use dormant bank accounts as a source of public financing, warning that such a move could weaken confidence in Ghana’s financial system and undermine constitutional property rights.
The policy think tank’s intervention comes as Ghana develops a national framework for managing dormant and unclaimed financial assets across the banking, pensions, insurance and securities sectors. The Ministry of Finance established an inter-agency Technical Working Group in May to design a unified framework after acknowledging that billions of cedis in financial assets have become disconnected from their rightful owners because of fragmented reporting and tracing systems.
ILAPI argued that the debate should focus on reuniting account holders and their heirs with dormant funds rather than allowing the state to treat the balances as government revenue.
“Citizens’ savings, whether active or dormant, remain private property,” the institute said, adding that “government’s responsibility is to protect these assets, not repurpose them for fiscal convenience.”
According to ILAPI, the intervention follows recent remarks by Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, suggesting that the government should have access to dormant bank accounts to support national development, a proposal that has generated debate over the ownership of inactive financial assets.
Analysts say public confidence that deposits remain secure is fundamental to financial intermediation, particularly as Ghana seeks to deepen financial inclusion and encourage greater formal savings.
The Ministry of Finance has itself acknowledged that weaknesses in the current system prevent many Ghanaians from reclaiming money held in dormant bank accounts, pensions, insurance policies and electronic money wallets. The ministry has said the absence of a single national mechanism to trace such assets has reduced consumer confidence and prompted plans for a comprehensive legislative framework.
Last month, the Bank of Ghana introduced its Unclaimed Balances and Dormant Account Directive, establishing uniform rules for banks and specialised deposit-taking institutions while stressing that dormant account holders do not lose ownership of their funds. The central bank subsequently moved to dispel public concerns after misinformation circulated suggesting customers risked forfeiting dormant balances.
ILAPI said the government should instead pursue structural fiscal reforms, including reducing wasteful public expenditure, strengthening efforts to recover misappropriated public funds and creating a publicly accessible national registry that would enable families to locate dormant assets belonging to deceased relatives.
It also proposed that dormant assets be managed through an independent unclaimed assets trust rather than transferred to government revenue.
Under such a model, the institute said ownership rights would remain with account holders, legitimate claims would be honoured over the long term, and idle balances could be invested conservatively while remaining available for repayment.
“The state should never become the beneficial owner of citizens’ savings merely because they have not accessed them,” ILAPI said.
The think tank further argued that dormant funds should be managed in ways that reduce ” poverty” by simplifying administrative procedures that often prevent families from accessing assets left behind by deceased relatives.
Banks and other financial institutions face new compliance obligations covering dormant accounts, customer tracing requirements and reporting standards as policymakers consider reforms. The debate also serves as a test of Ghana’s commitment to protecting private property rights and maintaining confidence in its financial system, an important consideration for investors.
