THE Bank Of Ghana (Bog) Says Efforts To Sanitise The Trading Of Foreign Exchange (Forex) Are Yielding The Needed Results.
It
Said While Data Showed That More People Were Now Resorting To The Licensed
Forex Bureaus For Their Forex Needs, The Level Of Speculation On The Cedi Had
Reduced, Leading To Some Respite For The Local Currency.
Data
Showed That The Cedi Improved From A Peak Of More Than GH¢15 To A Dollar In The
Week Beginning October 19 To About GH¢13.5 To A Dollar In The First Week Of November.
Consequently, The Head Of The Other
Financial Institutions Supervision Department (OFISD) Of Bog, Yaw Sarpong, Told
The Graphic Business Yesterday That The Central Bank Would Continue With The
Measures Aimed At Weeding Out The Illegal Traders To Help Restore Discipline In
The Buying And Selling Of The US Dollar, The British Pound, The Euro And The CFA
Franc, Among Others In The Country.
Mr
Sarpong Was Speaking To The Paper On The Recent Revocation Of The Licences Of
The Trade House And The Airport City Forex Bureaux Limited In Accra.
Non-Compliance
Last Thursday, The Central Bank
Revoked The Licences Of The Two Bureaus Over Their Non-Compliance To Sections
Of The Foreign Exchange Act 2006 (723) Of Bog.
The
Bank Said The Companies Had Contravened Sections 11 (1) And 12 (F) Of The Act By
Failing To Identify Their Customers, Issue Electronic Receipts And Setting
Prices In A Way That Is Detrimental To Customers.
Prior
To The Revocation Of The Licences, Bog And The Police, In September, Swooped On
Illegal FX Traders At Rawlings Park, Tudu, Cowlane, The Kwame Nkrumah Circle, Kinbu,
Timber Market And Lava.
The
Exercise Led To The Arrest Of 76 Perpetrators Who Were Alleged To Be Engaged In
Illegal Trading For Prosecution.
Cedi Stability
Mr
Sarpong Said Evidence Showed That The Measures Had Yielded The Needed Results
And The Central Bank Hoped To Improve Upon Them.
“We
Do Not Intend Resting,” He Said, Noting That The Successes Chalked Up Would
Motivate The Stakeholders To Keep Up With The Pressure.
It
Is Obvious That Speculation Is Playing A Big Role In The Currency Depreciation
And We Think That These Actions Will Help Fight Speculation,” He Said.
Mr Sarpong Added That; “If You Recall,
When We Did The Swoops And The Revocation, The Cedi Stabilised And It Shows That
These Actions Are Having An Effect.”
Also,
The Data Show That After The Actions, More People Are Now Using The Licensed
Forex Bureau. So, The Exercise Has Diverted Traffic To The Licensed Ones.”
No Resting
Mr Sarpong Said The Central Bank Now Planned To Enhance Its Supervision Role To
Help Sanitise The Business Further.
“By
These Actions, We Have Also Sent Signals To The Industry That We Will Not
Countenance Any Action Of Theirs That Goes Against The Law And All That Is
Helpful In Sanitising The Space,” He Said.
He
Explained That Bog Was Concerned About Compliance To The Rules And Would Use
Its Powers To Ensure That Regulated Stakeholders Played Within The Law.
Administrative Sanctions
Mr
Sarpong, However, Explained That The Central Bank Was Concerned About Getting
Regulated Entities To Play Within The Rules Rather Than Revoking Their
Licences.
He
Said The Issue Of Revocation Was An Action Of Last Resort That Bog Would Not
Want To Use But Said The Central Bank Would Not Hesitate To Do That If An
Entity Was Found To Be Breaching The Rules.
“Licence
Revocation Is The Last Resort. We Do Not Just Get Up And Revoke Licenses And
That Is Why We Are Often Accused Of Having Waited Too Long Because We Always
Want To Engage.
But
When An Institution Is Recalcitrant, Then We Can Get In And Revoke The
Licence,” He Said.
Source: Graphic Online