Dr Joseph France
THE BANK of Ghana has announced it will soon close down forex bureaux which fail to comply with Ghana’s foreign exchange regulation laws.
Head of Financial Stability at the Central Bank, Dr. Joseph France, who disclosed this, said his outfit would not hesitate to clamp down activities of forex bureaus found culpable and operating illegally.
Officials of the Central Bank made this known after embarking on some field exercises to check the state of compliance with some bureaus in the metropolis.
“We have started investigations into some complaints. We have heard that some don’t issue receipts and some are also determining forward rates which are bad. We will ensure that they all do good business. When we are done with the investigations and it warrants to close their bureaus, we will do that to serve as a deterrent to others. This is one of the measures to control the sharp depreciation of the cedi,” Dr France disclosed in an interview with Joy News.
There is a belief that actions by some operators have been contributing to speculations in the foreign exchange market, hence affecting the stability of the cedi.
He added that the Central Bank has begun an investigation into various complaints received regarding some forex bureaus which were not abiding by the laws governing foreign exchange and erroneously setting forward rates and failing to issue receipts.
He also mentioned that some forex bureaux were erroneously setting forward rates and failing to issue receipts.
It, therefore, entreated all licensed forex bureaux in the country to ensure they operate under the foreign exchange laws to instill sanity into the forex market across the country.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Ghana, in a statement, has also asked the public to desist from engaging the services of unlicensed loan providers.
The statement said the operations of some 19 loan providers were in contravention of the Banks and Specialised Deposit Institutions Act, 2016.
The institutions, according to Bank of Ghana, were SikaPurse Quick Online Loan, Zidisha Online Loans, Ghana Lending Application, Adamfo Loans, Mobi Loan Application and Quick Online Loan.
The rest are Lending Papapaa, Loan Pro, Sika Kasa Online Lending, Sika Wura Loan Application, Boseafie Bosea Loan Credit, 4 Cedi Mobile Loan, Chaste Loan Application, Credstar, Crest Cash, Begye Bosea Loan, Wohiasika Loan, Meta Lending Instant Cash Loan, and Loan Club Ghana Instant Loan.
BY Ebenezer K. Amponsah