Barring any last-minute change of plan, President Akufo-Addo will on Sunday slap serious restrictions on holders of Foreign Exchange Accounts (FEA) and Foreign Currency Accounts (FCA) in a bid to reign in the Cedi, reports.
With the Finance Minister cornered in the ring, an out-of-option President Akufo-Addo and his team of advisors believe imposing new controls on the movement of foreign currency will help Ghana’s deteriorated financial situation.
A source hinted that as part of last ditch efforts to reign in the Cedi which has been losing vlaue to the US Dollar over the past couple of months, the Bank of Ghana will be slapping heavy restrictions on FEA or FCA holders.
Out of the many restrictions yet to be announced by Akufo-Addo, one that is likely to rile members of the public is a new proposal to forcefully give FEA and FCA holders the Cedi equivalents of whatever amount they are withdrawing at a rate fixed by the Bank of Ghana.
Withdrawals over the counter for foreign accounts which will only be permitted for “purposes outside Ghana” and it shall not exceed a threshold which is still being debated.
But sources say the threshold could be US$10,000.
This restriction will cover major Trading Currencies such as the Dollar, Euro, Pounds Sterling, Yuan, CFA among others.
Also, sources told MyNewsGh.com further restrictions will reportedly cover Transfers from one foreign account to another and anybody seeking to transfer foreign currency outside Ghana would have to be run through the bureaucracy. The source says this particular one is an existing regulation that lacks enforcement and will now be enforced.
Should these measures start, it will attract anger from the business community and investors and is expected to spark a wave of people withdrawing their hard currencies from their bank accounts and stashing them at home.