President Akufo-Addo has said the domination of the ‘black market in the foreign exchange business in the country is unacceptable and stakeholders must find a way to stop the activities of those who operate in the space.
According to the president, “the initial impulse for the creation of forex bureaus” in Ghana was that “at the time when our economy was opening up and liberalising” there was the need to “find a mechanism for putting an end to black market operations on the country’s currency”.
“That was the initial impulse, so we will have these forex bureaus regulated by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) but which will make access to foreign exchange in a regulated and controlled manner easier.”
President Akufo-Addo made the observation when he met with the leadership of the Forex Bureau Association of Ghana at the Jubilee House on Wednesday, 26 October 2022.
“Unfortunately, somehow, this initial motivation for the creation of the forex bureaus has still not materialised.
“As you hear public commentators and commentators of the Bank of Ghana itself say, it is still the black market that is driving both the supply as well as the rate of our foreign exchange transactions,” President Akufo-Addo said.
“That for me, is completely unacceptable and we have to find a way to work together to drive the black market out of business,” Akufo-Addo added.
Impact of speculation
The president of the Forex Bureau Association of Ghana, K.T Dadzie, welcomed the invitation of the president to meet with him on the forex exchange challenges in the country.
Dadzie noted that forex bureaus are a regulated body and they do not have much control beyond what the regulator tells them to do. The past three months, he observed have not been easy for them [Forex Bureau Operators], and their customers.
“We have been in this business since 1988. We have had turbulences but this is a bit tough for all of us. We have gone through all that happened but we tried and we survived and I know this too shall pass.
“With the announcement that we were even meeting yesterday, the rate started coming down. It means it is not natural, this has all been done by people’s speculation and trying to make windfall out of the situation that we are in,” Dadzie said.
The Ghana cedi regained some strength against the US dollar, following weeks of consecutive free fall.
It regained some strength against the dollar on October 25, 2022, as one dollar went for GHC14. 50.
