As part of measures to restore order in the forex market, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has disclosed that government is working with the Bank of Ghana (BoG) and the oil producing
and mining companies to introduce a new legal and regulatory framework to ensure that all foreign exchange earned from operations in Ghana are, initially, paid to banks domiciled in Ghana to help boost the domestic foreign exchange market.
He explained that this forms part of the steps government is taking to restore order in the forex market.
According to him, the move has begun yielding some results as government will not relent until order is completely restored.
Mentioning some of the actions which have been taken thus far when speaking to the nation on Sunday October 30, 2022, President Akufo-Addo stated that “1) enhanced supervisory action by the Bank of Ghana in the forex bureau markets and the black market to flush out illegal operators, as well as ensuring that those permitted to operate legally abide by the market rules. Already some forex bureaus have had their licenses revoked,
and this exercise will continue until complete order is restored in the
sector;
“2) Fresh inflows of dollars are providing liquidity to the foreign exchange market, and addressing the pipeline demand;
“3) the Bank of Ghana has given its full commitment to the commercial banks to provide liquidity to ensure the wheels of the economy continue to run in a stabilized manner, till the IMF Programme kicks in
and the financing assurances expected from other partners also come in;
“4) Government is working with the Bank of Ghana and the oil producing and mining companies to introduce a new legal and regulatory framework to ensure that all foreign exchange earned from operations in Ghana are, initially, paid to banks domiciled in Ghana to help boost the domestic foreign exchange market; and
“5) the Bank of Ghana will enhance its gold purchase programme.”
The President expressed confident that these immediate measures designed will change the structure of our balance of payment flows, sanitise the foreign exchange market to ensure that the banks and forex bureaus operate along
international best practices, together with strengthened supervision.
By Vincent Kubi