Bank Of Ghana Denies Closure all Foreign Currency Account

Government has denied reports the Bank of Ghana intends to outlaw the operation of bank accounts in foreign currencies.

It follows widespread reports regulators of the sector are contemplating the ban as one of the measures to arrest the sharp decline of the cedi. The domestic currency has lost about 20 percent of its value to the US dollar since the beginning of the year and there are fears one may soon need 2 cedis to purchase one dollar.

Deputy Finance Minister, Seth Tekper however says the Bank of Ghana is only taking steps to stop certain uses of foreign accounts that are in breach of the foreign exchange laws and thus leading to a dollarization of the economy.

“Opening a Foreign Currency Account is a legal requirement and until parliament passes a new law, that remains so. But there is a difference between using that account for one’s business purposes in and the person offloading his or her currency to another business or Forex Bureau which implies trading in the currency which would be outside the law. The Bank of Ghana is therefore only drawing attention to the fact that such uses of the account may be in breach of the act” http://business.myjoyonline.com/pages/news/201206/88030.php