Recent Forex Reforms to Help Support Trade, Investment and Growth of SMEs – BoG Governor
The Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr. Johnson Asiama, has outlined the objectives of the central bank’s recent foreign exchange (FX) market reforms, stressing their role in creating a fairer, more predictable system that supports trade, investment, and the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Speaking at the Workshop on Supporting SMEs to Sustainable Global Value Chains organised by the Ghana Association of Banks in partnership with Afreximbank, the Trade and Development Bank (TDB) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) on Thursday, September 11, 2025, Dr. Asiama said the reforms are designed to deepen transparency, curb speculative activity, and align Ghana’s markets with global best practices.
Transparency and interbank activity
The Governor explained that Ghana’s FX market had long depended on central bank support and informal, cash-based transactions, distorting price discovery and encouraging speculation. By strengthening reporting requirements, enhancing interbank trading, and improving transparency, the reforms aim to ensure exchange rates reflect real supply and demand. “For SMEs, this means less volatility and greater confidence when pricing exports or securing inputs,” he noted.
Curbing speculative demand
He added that updated guidelines on large transactions, alongside stronger anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) rules, are shifting flows into formal channels, protecting market integrity and ensuring FX is available for genuine trade and productive purposes.
Predictable access and dedollarisation
The reforms also seek to provide SMEs with more predictable access to FX through clearer auction mechanisms. Dr. Asiama observed that similar measures in countries like Nigeria had yielded benefits, adding that Ghana’s approach remains context-specific but anchored in the principle of a rules-based market.
He further highlighted the alignment of the reforms with Ghana’s broader dedollarisation agenda, which seeks to reduce currency mismatches by promoting cedi-denominated trade instruments and tightening discipline around foreign currency usage.
Anchoring stability
Dr. Asiama emphasised that FX stability is a prerequisite for investment and competitiveness. He noted that Ghana’s external position had improved in the first half of 2025, with stronger reserves and a firmer cedi. The recent modest depreciation, he said, was reflective of seasonal trade patterns and market adjustments rather than a reversal of gains.
“The purpose of these reforms is not simply to defend the cedi. It is to equip Ghanaian enterprises, especially SMEs, with a transparent, predictable FX environment that enables them to compete confidently in regional and global markets,” he stated.
The Governor encouraged SMEs to embrace formalisation, digitisation, and global standards, stressing that compliance was now a “passport to larger, more profitable markets.” With inflation declining, the cedi more stable, and reserves improving, he said, the conditions were right for SMEs to expand with confidence.
“At the Bank of Ghana, we will continue to safeguard macroeconomic stability, strengthen the financial system, and build the digital and regulatory rails that make inclusive growth possible. If we succeed in enabling SMEs to step into global value chains, we will not only transform enterprises, but transform lives, create decent jobs, and build lasting prosperity,” Dr. Asiama concluded.
