Commercial Banks Free To Import Foreign Currency

Dr. Kofi Wampah, Governor BoG
Commercial banks can now import dollars, pounds and other international currencies for their operations.

This follows the Bank of Ghana’s decision to lift the ban on importation of foreign exchange by commercial banks last week.

Governor of the Central Bank, Dr. Kofi Wampah, told Joy Business the move is part of measures to improve supply of dollars on the market and possibly help stabilize the falling Ghana cedi.

‘It doesn’t mean that Bank of Ghana has stopped what it is doing. We will still be there to provide additional forex if needed by the banks,’ he said.

The Governor maintained that this would also help correct the current situation, where most of the commercial banks quote their own exchange rates.

In February this year, the central bank announced measures aimed at shoring up the cedi against the major foreign currencies.

As part of the measures, it banned commercial banks and other financial houses from importing forex, issuing cheques and cheque books on foreign exchange accounts (FEA), as well as foreign currency accounts (FCA).