Stolen $1m, €300k Saga: No Law Prohibits Bulk Cash Outside Banks – Expert

A banking advisor, Dr Richard Atuahene, has indicated that Ghana’s Foreign Exchange Act does not restrict people from keeping any specific amount of cash outside the banking system.

His comments come on the back of reports that two house helps have been arrested for allegedly stealing $1 million, €300,000 and millions of cedis from the Sanitation Minister’s Ablelemkpe residence.

Dr Atuahene explained that the law doesn’t expressly prohibit the practice of keeping massive cash at home.

“Currently, under the Foreign Exchange Act 206 Act 713, there is no specific area that says that somebody cannot hold that quantum of money,” he said.

However, the banker expressed concern about holding onto such an amount of cash outside the banking system and its impact on the cedi and the economy.

“It makes it difficult for whatever the Bank of Ghana is calculating because part of the money is part of the calculation, and you cannot capture when you are calculating the inflation and what have you,” he pointed out.

He believes such colossal amounts of money outside the system affect the value of the local currency.

“If such quantum of foreign currency is held out, then you can imagine if there are 10 of them, then it means that about $10 million is held in homes, and the implication is how did this dollar get there? Either they came under purchase from the market, or they got it from somewhere, and they kept it, and it all affects the depreciation of the currency,” he said.

Dr Atuahene is not the only person to raise concerns about the matter.

Meanwhile, some members of the public and National Democratic Congress (NDC) MPs are asking President Akufo-Addo to sack the minister.