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The Bank of Ghana’s export restriction rules are costing the country more than $3 billion a year as the country desperately needs dollars to shore up its dwindling reserves.
According to some concerned exporters, these restrictive rules have had an adverse impact on many exporters in the country, especially when the Bank of Ghana does not provide pre-financing for their exports.
Exporter Francis Gbedemah has revealed that the country could lose nearly $15 billion over the next five years if the Bank of Ghana does not seriously revoke this Letter of Commitment (LoC) rule.
In 2022, the Bank of Ghana established an inter-departmental committee to streamline the LoC regime to better meet the needs of exporters. The LoC is a web-based export document generated by exporters through the Integrated Customs Management System (ICUMS) portal for all exports accompanied by a levy.
But this has reduced the country’s export business, and Ghana’s high-quality products have been positioned for export, and the economy has missed such a good opportunity.
According to the Bank of Ghana regulations, every exporter that exports a certain amount of goods from the country must bring funds of the corresponding value into the country, otherwise the exporting company will be blacklisted.
The exporters concerned described this as “short-sighted reasoning” as the Bank of Ghana does not provide pre-financing for their exports to other countries.
“We do not understand why the Bank of Ghana issued this directive. How can we get value for money when we export samples for marketing and finance the promotion and distribution of products without any state support or when external entities pre-finance the exported goods?” they asked.
“Through these heavy-handed tactics, we are denying our products and goods to be placed on international shelves and providing the required economic returns and corresponding revenues to Ghanaian exporters and people.
“Are multinational companies operating in Ghana required to repatriate all their sales to their home countries? This could collapse the Ghanaian economy overnight,” they lamented.
Furthermore, Ghana’s stance on the Line of Control could trigger trade tensions among trading partners and lead to a further decline in the Ghanaian economy after it has earned full returns on its investments.
However, concerned exporters have urgently called on Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and Finance Minister Dr Mohammed Amin Adam to revoke the policy directive.
Total non-traditional export revenues for 2023 are $3,944,146,717. This figure represents an 11.4% increase over revenues in 2022. Without the directive, this figure could have doubled as Ghana’s industrialization progresses.
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