Foreign Exchange Transactions: Free Zones Companies Not Affected – Twum Boafo

Companies operating under the Ghana Free Zones Board (GFZB) are exempt from the Bank of Ghana (BoG)’s directives regarding foreign exchange transactions.

Kwadwo Twum-Boafo, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GFZB, who disclosed this, said Free Zones companies would not be affected because they operate under a separate Act of Parliament.

Speaking at the annual GFZB open forum in Accra, he said Free Zones companies are exempt from all those duties and levies and free to repatriate their profits as they wish.

Mr Twum-Boafo urged Free Zones companies to re-invest their profits into existing businesses in order to expand and create more jobs for Ghanaians.

He gave the assurance that the Board would provide them with the necessary support to maximize or optimize their operations in the country.

Twum Boafo encouraged prospective investors to try new innovative programmes to enhance their operations and Free Zones activities in general.

Dr. Johnson Asiama, Chief Manager, Governor’s Office, BoG said free zones companies have nothing to worry about as far as the Central Bank’s directives were concerned.

However, the only area that Free Zones companies are affected has to do with transferring money from a Foreign Currency Account (FCA) into a third party account, he said.

“You can transfer from an FCA into an FEA but the reverse is not possible. This is because the two accounts have different privileges,” Dr. Asiama said.

He said the new BoG directives were put in place to compliment other measures to help stabilize the cedi, stating that the difficulty the country was facing currently was temporary.

Dr. Asiama urged the Free Zones companies to endeavor to adhere to the rules and regulations under which they operate.