In a move aimed at quelling mounting anxiety within the business community, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) has directly assured the Ghana Union of Traders’ Associations (GUTA) that there is sufficient foreign exchange to aid their trading activities.
This assurance from the BoG comes after widespread reports within the business community concerning difficulties in accessing forex for their import and operations.
Despite the BoG’s interventions in the market, businesses say they are unable to get the forex at the commercial banks at the Central Bank’s approved rates. These aggrieved businesses are forced to patronize the black market, which comes at exorbitant rates.
Amid the concerns of GUTA, a new assurance from the Central Bank is coming after a high-level meeting between the BoG and GUTA leadership, convened specifically to address “numerous complaints” from businesses struggling to source vital dollars and other foreign currencies through commercial banks.
A statement released by GUTA indicated that the BoG, at the meeting, explicitly stated “there’s enough forex that should not call for alarm,” directly responding to traders’ frustrations.
Following the meeting and the firm assurances of the BoG, President of GUTA, Joseph Obeng, is urging members to “keep calm.”
He emphasized that the BoG is actively working to resolve the reported access bottlenecks.
The BoG further intimated that it will communicate with the commercial banks to ascertain the root cause of the perceived shortage of forex causing anxiety among the business community.
This strongly suggests an impending directives or interventions aimed at improving the flow of forex to the business community.
The leadership, amid the concerns, is calling on members to remain calm and to the appropriate quarters if the problem persists.
The association says it will continue to monitor the situation closely and potentially escalate if access does not improve rapidly.
GUTA is not the only business association with similar concerns. Importers and Exporters have earlier voiced out similar concerns, calling on the authorities to intervene.
Meanwhile, the IMF and the Bank of Ghana have confirmed that massive intervention, where dollars were pumped into the system, has taken place. It is therefore unclear whether the commercial banks are unwilling to sell at the BoG rates or if there is a case of hoarding.
While the BoG asserts supply is adequate, the persistent complaints point squarely to an access problem at the commercial bank level. This gap between central bank reserves and the availability of forex to businesses on the ground has been a source of intense friction and economic uncertainty.
For now, all eyes are on the Central Bank to address the situation.
