IMF Backs BoG’s Forex Directives to Reinforce Cedi as Sole Legal Tender, Tighten Controls on FX Transactions
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has thrown its weight behind the Bank of Ghana’s (BoG) recent foreign exchange directives, describing them as measures that reinforce the cedi’s role as the sole legal tender while strengthening transparency in the forex market.
Communications Director of the IMF, Julie Kozack, speaking at a press briefing on Thursday, September 11, 2025, said the directives are aligned with broader financial integrity and anti-money laundering goals.
“The Bank of Ghana’s latest directives are intended to reinforce the role of the cedi as the sole legal tender in the country. They’re meant to tighten controls on foreign currency transactions and to promote formal channels for the provision of remittances and trade. And these are steps toward broader financial integrity, compliance with anti-money laundering rules, and broader transparency in the FX market,” she stated in response to a question posed by NorvanReports.
The BoG, in a notice dated August 20, 2025, directed commercial banks to cease the practice of paying foreign currency cash to large corporates unless such transactions are backed by equivalent foreign currency deposits.
Per the directive, banks may only process such payments if they are “fully supported by equivalent foreign cash deposits lodged by the same institution at the Bank.”
The central bank explained that the measure was necessary to curb the rising trend of large corporates—including bulk oil distribution companies, mining firms, and other entities—accessing foreign exchange without prior deposits. This, the regulator warned, had been exerting undue pressure on the FX market and undermining efforts to stabilise the local currency.
The BoG has over the past year intensified policy measures to arrest exchange rate volatility, including tightening compliance checks on forex bureaux, ramping up dollar auctions, and enforcing stricter monitoring of foreign currency accounts.
The IMF’s public endorsement of the August directive is expected to boost confidence in the central bank’s regulatory interventions at a time when currency stability remains critical to sustaining Ghana’s ongoing economic recovery programme.
