Dollar Shortage Hits Banks

By Esther Awuah

Unconfirmed reports reaching Business Guide indicates that there is shortage of foreign currencies, particularly the dollar, in the banks.

Though major banks contacted were tight lipped on the issue, some foreign account holders said they had not been able to withdraw foreign currencies from their accounts.

Since January, the cedi has continued to depreciate against major foreign trading currencies like the dollar.

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) intervened by reintroducing the treasury bills in tenors of 30 days, 60 days and 270 days and a review of the statutory reserve requirement of banks in order to arrest the situation.

However, some financial experts have argued that the measures introduced by the Central Bank would not be able to solve the problem.

A foreign account holder, who pleaded anonymity, told BUSINESS GUIDE that one of the leading banks in the country did not allow him to withdraw $30,000.

Instead, he was asked to withdraw the amount in installments of $10, 000 but when he went for the final part, the bank told him the dollar was scarce and he could not be served.

This development was confirmed by Mohammed Amin, a Forex bureau operator in Accra Central, who said the situation had resulted in further depreciation of the cedi.

He said “as a result of the shortage, the dollar is now selling at GH¢ 2.04 and bought at GH¢2.10, while the pounds is selling at GH¢3.6 and bought at 3.08.”

He stated that forex bureau operators were facing difficulties in obtaining foreign currencies, particularly the dollar because their main sources of supply- banks- do not have enough to sell, adding “so we have to rely on traders from Nigeria and Togo who come to Ghana to do business.”

He acknowledged that even though the situation was encouraging ‘black marketing’ that was the only way they could also stay in business.

Some economic experts have attributed the shortage of major foreign currencies partly to panic among foreign account holders following earlier reports that the BoG was considering converting all foreign currency accounts held by individuals to cedi.

The BoG has blamed forex bureau operators for accepting deposits and engaging in large foreign exchange transactions but Mr. Amin denied the accusations.

He said “these are mere allegations because a forex bureau cannot operate as a bank.”

He said most people in possession of foreign currencies were keeping them rather than sending them to the banks for fear that they might be converted into Cedis.

“The rate at which the cedi is falling against the dollar, I can bet you that GH¢ 1 will go for $ 3 before the year ends,” he predicted.

Ghana, Ivory Coast Border Impasse To Be Resolved

Daniel Gnangni, Director General, Petroci

By Esther Awuah

Daniel Gnangni, Director General of Petroci, the Ivoirian national oil company, says he is optimistic the border dispute between Ghana and Ivory Coast would be resolved within the shortest possible time.

The border dispute between the West African neighbours heightened when an exploration firm Vanco discovered oil in the Dzata-1 deepwater-well for Ghana.

The Ivoirians noted that the oil discovery was within their territorial waters and subsequently petitioned the United Nations in 2010 to complete the demarcation of the maritime boundary between the two countries to forestall any dispute.


The disputed border also covers some parts of the Jubilee oil field which is said to be the largest discovery in West Africa in recent times.

Mr. Gnangni told Ghanaian journalists visiting Abidjan that the two countries had resorted to dialogue to solve the dispute.

He said there had been several meetings between both countries on the issue but there had not been any final agreement.

“What we can rejoice about is that both countries have a fundamental agreement that they will find final resolution to this through dialogue.”

He noted “what I am happy about is that Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire are sister countries and our desire is that no matter what wealth we find in our communal boundary, we are hopeful that we are going to sought it out in a peaceful and friendly manner.”

The issue has attracted considerable media interests and international attention with Ghanaian authorities passing the Ghana Boundary Commission Bill into law.

The law subsequently established a commission to determine the country’s land and maritime boundaries, including the disputed area.

In a related development, Mr. Gnangni stated that like Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire was also recording oil production shortfall, as its targeted 80,000 barrels per day had dropped to about 35,000.

He attributed the shortfall to technical challenges, which he said, had been worked on and added that more oil fields were being explored to boost the production level.

He added that the recent political crisis in the country affected the oil industry negatively, as most of its partners had to leave which made it impossible to conduct further exploration.