The cedi has appreciated in value as a result of ongoing discussions between the government and important stakeholders, according to K. T. Dadzie, president of the Ghanaian Forex Bureau Association.
He asserts that the cedi has strengthened greatly versus the dollar since the government’s direct involvement, despite the fact that the past three months of forex turbulence have not been easy for forex operators, their clients, or the country.
This, he claimed, proves that the out-of-control interest rates are not a result of natural processes but rather the conscious actions of “people speculating and trying to make rainfall out of the position that we are in.”
In an expanded version of ongoing discussions between the Association and the Bank of Ghana, Mr. K.T. Dadzie made this known when the association’s leadership and members met with President of the Republic Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to discuss the unsettling behavior and volatility of the foreign exchange market.
According to President Akufo-Addo, at whose behest the meeting was occasioned, “the state of our currency and the turbulence in our foreign exchange market is a matter of notoriety now in Ghana and it’s a matter of very grave concern.”
He said, “the initial import for the creation of forex bureaux was at the time when the economy was opening up and liberalising. So, we had these forex bureaux, regulated by the Bank of Ghana; but which will make access to foreign exchange in a regulated and controlled manner easier.”
“This was necessary to curb trying to find a mechanism for putting an end to Black-Market operations in our currency,” he added.
“Unfortunately, somehow,” he continued, “these initial motivations for the Forex Bureau have still not materialised. The black market; you will hear public commentators, and the Bank of Ghana itself, that it is still driving both the supply as well as the rate of our foreign exchange transactions.”
The Forex Bureau Association vowed to help the government’s efforts to stabilize the exchange rates and significantly lessen the influence of black market operations there.
