Don’t let Forex crisis in Nigeria affect Ghana – GUTA to BoG

The Ghana Union Traders Association (GUTA) says the Government and the Bank of Ghana should effectively put in measures to avoid facing the same foreign exchange crisis as Nigeria.

“The Union is cautioning the Government and the Bank of Ghana to effectively put in measures that will control and contain the illegitimate cross-border trade in money as well as the transactions secretly done through the banks without the notice of the Bank of Ghana,” a statement signed by GUTA President, Dr. Joseph Obeng, said.

“The Union therefore asks the government to take these developments seriously and act upon them with the utmost urgency,” it concluded.

With annual inflation nearing 30% and a currency in freefall, Nigeria is facing one of its worst economic crises in years, provoking nationwide outrage and protests.

The Nigerian naira hit a new all-time low against the U.S. dollar on both the official and parallel foreign exchange markets on Monday, sliding to almost 1,600 against the greenback on the official market from around 900 at the start of the year.

President Bola Tinubu announced Tuesday that the federal government plans to raise at least $10 billion to boost foreign exchange liquidity and stabilize the naira, according to multiple local media reports.

The currency has been down around 70% since May 2023, when Tinubu took office, inheriting a struggling economy and promising a raft of reforms aimed at steadying the ship.

In a bid to fix the beleaguered economy and attract international investment, Tinubu unified Nigeria’s multiple exchange rates and enabled market forces to set the exchange rate, sending the currency plunging. In January, the market regulator also changed how it calculates the currency’s closing rate, resulting in another de facto devaluation.

Years of foreign exchange controls have also generated enormous pent-up demand for U.S. dollars at a time when overseas investment and crude oil exports have declined.