Following the poor performance of the cedi against the cedi over the past weeks, the Bank of Ghana has disclosed that it will soon embark on a “clean up” exercise in the forex bureau sector. This outfit is among efforts to regulate the sharp depreciation of the cedi.
In an interview with Joy Business, some representatives of the Central Bank noted that there are licensed forex bureaus that are failing to adhere to the foreign exchange policy. They believed that these actions by some forex bureau owners have contributed to speculation in the foreign exchange market which has played a part in the decline of the cedi.
Dr. Joseph France who is the Head of Financial Stability at the Central Bank noted that his office will not hesitate to shut down the operations of forex bureaus that are found liable for illegal operations. Additionally, he said that the BoG has launched an investigation into several reports on some forex bureau operators that are flaunting the forex exchange laws by setting wrong forward rates and not issuing receipts.
Could this be another case of the Banking sector clean-up undertaken by the BoG between 2017 and 2019 which saw the licenses of nine (9) universal banks, 347 micro-finance companies, 39 micro-credit companies, 15 savings and loans companies, and 8 financial houses revoked?
According to the government’s 2020 budget statement, the exercise cost a whopping GHS 11.7 billion. A few years after this clean-up exercise, it has been cited by some as one of the causes of the country’s current struggling economy. It is important that the government scouts and eliminates non-compliant forex bureau operators, but at what cost will it come to the government? Can the forex bureaus be given an ultimatum to “put their houses in order?”
When these businesses are shut down, the operators will lose their livelihoods as many did during the banking sector cleanup and their families will suffer. Perhaps operators found culpable after the investigations by the BoG should be sanctioned instead of completely shutting down their businesses.
Priscilla Fumadorh
Priscilla is an entrepreneur and a creative communicator who loves to communicate through writing. She is passionate about national economic issues and does not miss a chance to offer her opinions on them for the good of the country.
Instead of shutting them down, they could consider having them fined so the government doesn’t lose in cash to clamp down these non compliant bureaux
You know, Sylvester, sometimes I wonder what the Council of State members do because such ideas should not be even encouraged when there is a whole council designated to advise.