Economic stability is not built by taxing trust, but by earning it.
Ghana is in the middle of its biggest currency-stabilisation effort in years. Since January 2025, the Bank of Ghana has injected $10 billion USD into the forex market to strengthen the cedi, calm speculation, and reassure the business community that the worst is behind us.
That is a bold and welcome move.
But at the exact same time, the government has implemented a 5% tax on USD cash withdrawals, with some banks adding their own 1% service fee, quietly turning it into a 6% penalty for touching your own dollars.
These two policies cannot coexist logically. One is a rescue. The other is a deterrent. And together, they create the most contradictory forex environment Ghana has seen in over a decade.
1. A $10 Billion Injection Means “Use Dollars Freely”, So Why Punish Withdrawals?
The Bank of Ghana’s rescue is designed to increase dollar supply, support importers, stabilise inflation, and restore confidence in the financial system.
In other words:
“We have dollars. Don’t panic.”
But the 5–6% withdrawal tax sends the opposite message:
“Dollars are scarce. Don’t touch them.”
You cannot inject $10 billion USD into the market and simultaneously penalise citizens and businesses for accessing dollars. It is macroeconomic contradiction, one that risks neutralising the impact of the entire rescue.
No economy stabilises by expanding supply and taxing usage at the same time.
2. This Policy Hurts the Very Businesses Ghana Needs to Recover
Ghana has spent the last decade positioning itself as the West African hub for legal services, consulting, tech, finance, logistics, mining support, diaspora business, and NGO operations.
Most of these firms receive their revenue in USD via international transfers, the exact accounts now hit by the dollar withdrawal tax.
The consequences are predictable and already happening:
- Companies quietly instruct clients to pay into foreign bank accounts (Dubai, London, Nairobi, Mauritius, Abidjan).
- Some relocate their billing centres offshore.
- Others keep a shell office in Ghana but book revenue elsewhere.
- SMEs shift to cash-based forex channels because the formal system has become too punitive.
Ghana ends up losing:
- foreign exchange inflows,
- corporate taxes,
- banking sector deposits,
- and investor confidence.
Instead of attracting capital, we are pushing it out the door.
3. A Policy That Punishes Formal Banking and Rewards Cash Economy
Walk down Osu Oxford Street, East Legon, Spintex, Adum, or Takoradi Harbour Road, and you see dozens of forex bureaux. These are legitimate, regulated channels that already form part of Ghana’s forex ecosystem.
What do ordinary people and businesses actually do?
1. Receive dollars from abroad through the bank.
2. Withdraw the dollars.
3. Walk directly to the forex bureau.
4. Convert to cedis to buy cement, iron rods, supplies, materials, labour, and local services.
The 5% tax does not stop forex conversion. It simply taxes the step in between, punishing those who keep their money in the formal financial system.
Ironically, those who operate entirely in cash are not touched at all.
That is not how you build a transparent, well-supervised economy.
4. The Hidden Hypocrisy: Everyone Knows Dollars Are Still Being Used Privately
Ghanaians are not naïve.
The public knows that politically connected individuals, senior officials, contractors, importers, and high-net-worth individuals also hold significant dollar reserves.
And what do they use those dollars for?
- Construction
- Cement and iron rods
- Imports
- Land purchases
- Medical travel
- Business transactions
So when the government imposes a 5–6% tax on the average citizen withdrawing dollars legitimately earned or transferred formally, trust erodes.
Policies that burden the formal sector but spare the informal elite never sit well with the public.
5. The First Year of a New Government Is About Confidence, Not Fear
The NDC government entered year one with a strong mandate to restore:
- economic stability,
- business confidence,
- investment credibility,
- and predictability in policymaking.
But confidence is fragile. It is built slowly and lost quickly.
A policy that contradicts the $10 billion rescue, alienates businesses, and punishes formal forex flows sends the wrong message at the wrong time.
It risks Ghana becoming a place where:
- multinationals hesitate,
- SMEs shift offshore,
- investors discount the cedi,
- diaspora inflows bypass the banking system,
- and local entrepreneurs feel targeted instead of supported.
That is the opposite of the recovery Ghana desperately needs.
6. How Ghana Can Correct Course, Quickly and Credibly
1. Suspend or revise the 5% dollar tax
Particularly for legitimate business accounts, NGOs, exporters, and professional services.
2. Make the policy temporary and openly reviewable
A 6–12 month window with published impact data.
3. Strengthen supervision instead of blunt taxation
Target suspicious flows directly. Don’t punish the entire formal sector.
4. Bring the private sector into the conversation
Hold a Business Confidence Roundtable with AGI, GAB, foreign chambers, SMEs, and diaspora investors.
5. Communicate a coherent FX strategy
Explain clearly why $10 billion USD was injected and how future policy will support, not contradict, that stabilisation effort.
If Ghana wants to position itself as a true regional hub, policies must invite capital, not chase it away.
Conclusion: You Cannot Build Confidence by Taxing It
The cedi will not stabilise on injections alone.
Currencies stabilise when:
- businesses trust the system,
- investors feel safe,
- policy is consistent,
- and citizens believe the rules are fair.
The 5% dollar withdrawal tax stands in the way of all four.
Ghana has taken a bold step by injecting $10 billion USD into the forex market. Now it must remove the contradictory step that undermines that effort.
If we want a stronger cedi, the path is simple:
Encourage dollars to flow into Ghana. Not make people pay 5–6% to touch them.
Ultimately, capital follows confidence. Policy must follow logic.
