The Bank of Ghana (BoG), has cautioned forex bureaux across the country against engaging in forex forward or forward exchange rate trading.
According to the Central Bank, forex bureaux per their licensing by the Bank, are permitted to engage only in on-the-spot buying and selling of foreign currencies.
On-the-spot buying and selling of foreign currency refers to the purchase or sale of foreign currencies at the prevailing exchange rate at the time of sale or purchase of a foreign currency.
Forex forward or forward exchange rate trading on the other hand, refers to an exchange rate agreed on by both the seller and buyer of the foreign currency with the transaction between the two scheduled for a later date.
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“The licence issued to forex bureaux by the Bank of Ghana permits them to engage ONLY in on-the-spot selling and buying of foreign currencies. You cannot deposit Ghana Cedis with a forex bureau at an agreed rate and collect the foreign currency equivalent at a later date,” stated the BoG in a Financial Literacy Education on Forex Bureaux document.
The BoG also advised the public against dealing with ‘black market’ operators noting that individuals are likely to trade in fake currency, be drawn into money laundering and terrorist financing or attacked by armed robbers.
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