The Bank of Ghana (BoG) is taking steps to restore order in the foreign exchange market and ensure the interbank market took full control of the forex market, Governor, Dr Ernest Addison, has said.
That, it said, was to ensure the stability in the Cedi, which has depreciated sharply against its international peers since the beginning of the year, and bring confidence to the market.
A statement issued by the BoG and copied to the Ghanaian Times yesterday said, the Governor, Dr Addison stated this when he met Managing Directors of universal banks and stakeholders within the foreign exchange market and some members of forex bureau operators last week.
The objective was to deliberate on measures to streamline, sanitise and provide clarity on the supply of forex in the country.
Dr Addison said the BoG was poised to work with relevant stakeholders to stabilise the foreign exchange market and clamp down on black market operators, to help contain depreciation of the cedi, adding that BoG was working to enforce regulations on the foreign exchange market so as to streamline the supply of forex in the country.
“Available data indicate that we started the year GH¢6 to the dollar. It got to GH¢7 and we stayed at GH¢7 in June, GH¢7.6 in July, GH¢8 in August, GH¢9.6 in September and now it is GH¢12.5. But we are here again with people sending messages that the dollar-cedi rate is GH¢15 to a dollar, “he said.
“Clearly, this type of movement does not reflect changes in the fundamentals. It is clear that the market is not functioning properly. We are seeing speculations taking over under very disorderly market conditions and it appears now the black market is rather driving exchange rates. This we cannot allow to continue,” he said.
Dr Addison entreated the forex bureau operators to be law abiding and desist from selling foreign currencies at exorbitant prices, to reduce speculation in the market, contributing to the rapid depreciation of the Cedi.
Dr Addison indicated that the $750 million from the AfriExim Bank and the $790 million from the COCOBOD syndicated loan would help stabilize the market.
He assured that the Central Bank had enough liquidity to keep things relatively stable till the International Monetary Fund Programme started and the financing assurances expected from other partners came in.
The Governor stressed that the BoG would continue to tighten monetary policy to stem the rising rate of inflation prevent inflation from being entrenched.
Inflation has risen more than 21-year high to 37.2 per cent in September, 2022.
Present at the meeting were Managing Directors of the Universal Banks in the country, led by the President of the Ghana Association of Banks and Chief Executive Officer of the Standard Chartered Bank Plc, Ms Mansah Nettey.
The Association of Forex Bureau Operators was led by the President of the Forex Bureau Association of Ghana, K. T. Dadzie.
BY KINGSLEY ASARE
