Local manufacturers in Ghana have expressed growing concerns about the impact of black market currency trading on the performance of the cedi, Ghana’s national currency.
They are calling on the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to intervene and strengthen its regulatory oversight of the foreign exchange market.
Speaking to the issue on Joy News, Soalihu Moukhtar, Managing Director for Intravenous Infusion, suggested that forex bureaus are partly responsible for the cedi’s struggles. “If you look at the trade balance of this country over the last five years, it has seen some improvements. So our expectation is that this improvement should have translated to stability of our cedi. But we are not getting it,” he said.
Moukhtar believes that the Bank of Ghana (BoG) should strengthen its supervisory role to address the issue of individuals converting excess cedis into foreign currencies, especially the US dollar, as a safeguard against the depreciation of the local currency.
He points out that some people use unconventional methods for this conversion, such as through poorly regulated foreign bureaus or the black market. This practice creates shortages, drives up the value of the dollar, and contributes to the decline of the cedi.
Local manufacturers argue that individuals and entities without legitimate business needs, such as importation or exportation, should not be allowed to hold significant amounts of foreign currency in Ghana, either in bank accounts or in cash.
They believe the BoG should review the regulatory environment and implement stricter measures to curb black market activities, which are contributing to the cedi’s instability and adversely impacting businesses.
