{"id":28598,"date":"2025-07-22T12:17:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-22T12:17:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/28598\/"},"modified":"2025-07-22T12:17:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T12:17:10","slug":"bog-crackdown-targets-dollar-use-in-real-estate-education-sectors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/28598\/","title":{"rendered":"BoG crackdown targets dollar-use in real estate, education sectors"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"File <\/a>File photo of real estate houses<\/p>\n

The central bank is increasing scrutiny on businesses in the real estate and private education sectors that continue to quote prices and demand payments in US dollars \u2013 in a renewed effort to enforce the Ghanaian cedi\u2019s legal tender status.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/a>Bank of Ghana<\/a> Governor Dr. Johnson Pandit Asiama said the practice of dollar-pricing within the country\u2019s borders constitutes an \u201ceconomic distortion\u201d and breaches national monetary law.<\/p>\n

In addressing the UPSA Law School\u2019s Banking Roundtable, Dr. Asiama stated that such informal dollarisation undermines the transmission of monetary policy and erodes public trust in the national currency.<\/p>\n

While the cedi has appreciated more than 42 percent against the US dollar so far this year \u2013 bolstered by tighter monetary policy, improved reserves and stronger trade performance \u2013 the Governor warned that these gains remain vulnerable to behavioural and institutional gaps in currency usage.<\/p>\n

He singled out the real estate and education sectors as \u201cpriority enforcement zones\u201d, citing recurring violations where dollar invoicing has become common practice.<\/p>\n

\u2018\u2019A disturbing trend persists: a growing number of local businesses and service providers, particularly in real estate, education, and vehicle imports, are demanding payments in US dollars or quoting prices in foreign currency. This is a breach of law and a breach of trust in our national currency\u2019\u2019, he said<\/p>\n

We must decisively reverse this culture<\/p>\n

Countries such as Kenya and South Africa provide instructive examples. In Nairobi or Cape Town, it would be nearly impossible for a citizen to demand or accept dollars for domestic transactions. The pride in the local currency is enforced not only through law, but through civic responsibility. In Ghana, we must cultivate a similar ethic of currency patriotism.<\/p>\n

The <\/a><\/a>Bank of Ghana<\/a> is working with stakeholders to re-emphasize the legal tender status of the Cedi and discourage foreign currency invoicing for local goods and services. At the same time, we are promoting greater access to cedi-based digital payments to eliminate friction and deepen currency formalization, said the Governor<\/p>\n

\u201cThe use of foreign currency in everyday domestic transactions is not only illegal; it signals a loss of confidence in the cedi,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Under Ghanaian law, the cedi is the sole legal tender for all payments within the country. This status, enshrined in the <\/a><\/a>Bank of Ghana<\/a> Act (Act 612), gives the central bank exclusive authority to issue currency and mandates the cedi\u2019s use in all commercial transactions.<\/p>\n

The Bank is working with law enforcement agencies, Ghana Revenue Authority and sector regulators to identify and prosecute businesses that violate this provision. Circulars have already been issued to regulated institutions and additional compliance mechanisms are expected in coming months.<\/p>\n

While no new penalties were announced, the Governor\u2019s speech implied that a stricter enforcement regime is imminent. He called on stakeholders \u2013 including businesses, financial institutions and regulators \u2013 to help restore the cedi\u2019s dominance by pricing goods and services in the national currency.<\/p>\n

Beyond enforcement, the central bank is also expanding digital payment infrastructure to support use of the cedi. It is piloting the eCedi \u2013 a central bank digital currency \u2013 and tightening regulations around fintech and virtual asset platforms to ensure that innovation does not bypass monetary policy controls.<\/p>\n

Dr. Asiama drew comparisons with peer economies in Africa, particularly Kenya and South Africa, where it is uncommon and culturally unacceptable for local businesses to demand foreign currency for domestic transactions.<\/p>\n

He argued that Ghana needs a similar sense of \u201ccurrency patriotism\u201d.<\/p>\n

The speech comes amid a broader effort by the central bank to consolidate recent macroeconomic gains. Inflation had dropped to 13.7 percent by June \u2013 down from a peak of 54.1 percent in late 2022 \u2013 and gross international reserves have climbed to over US$11billion.<\/p>\n

Still, the Governor acknowledged that legal tender status alone is insufficient to sustain the cedi\u2019s resurgence. \u201cThe strength of a currency,\u201d he said, \u201cultimately depends on the confidence of the people who use it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"File photo of real estate houses The central bank is increasing scrutiny on businesses in the real estate…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28599,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[28,101],"class_list":["post-28598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28598"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28598\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}