BoG Governor Asiama: No More $10 Million Walk – Outs – Cash Limits Strengthened
The Bank of Ghana ( BoG ), under Governor Dr. Johnson Asiama, has taken decisive steps to prevent the large-scale withdrawal of U.S. dollars in cash, marking a pivotal shift in the country’s foreign currency controls.
Reasons BoG Clamped Down on Massive Dollar Withdrawals
Dr. Asiama revealed that in the past, some corporations with export revenues in Foreign Currency Accounts (FCAs) routinely withdrew up to $10 million in physical cash. The central bank now considers such withdrawals unnecessary and potentially destabilizing, especially when payments abroad are typically handled electronically.
While these restrictions target large institutional players, individuals needing modest sums such as $100 or $200 for personal needs can still raise their requests with their bank. They may choose to collect cash, incur commission charges, or convert to cedi, depending on what works best for them.
Mr. Asiama highlighted that intelligence reports flagged suspicious behavior like individuals attempting to carry huge sums of money out of Ghana without declaring it. He further stressed that such actions represent anti-money laundering risks and broader financial leakages.
The BoG is collaborating with regulators, including the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), to ensure such large transfers are properly documented and monitored.
The BoG did not enact these new guidelines in isolation. According to Mr. Asiama, the bank consulted extensively with commercial bankers and CEOs to refine the policy. The result? Banks reportedly did not protest because they were part of the conversation from the start.
Below is an excerpt of Mr. Asiama’s speech:
“If you look at one of the notices, for example, on large withdrawals, that again was in response to the feedback that we got from our investigations, where you find certain corporates who, you know, earned money through export rights into their FCA accounts, and then they would want to withdraw these in large amounts.”
“Imagine a corporation wanting to withdraw $10 million over the counter. The fact is, what do they use that for? Because their payments are abroad, they don’t carry physical cash to go and settle anything.”
“And so the point we made there was, corporates like that do not need, you know, those cash locally, any payments they want to make abroad, will be made anyway. And so we said no to such corporations, they can afford to play in that regime.”
Editorial View – No More $10 Million Walk-Outs
Limiting large cash withdrawals helps mitigate unregulated flows of foreign currency that can destabilize the forex market.
The new regime reinforces anti-money laundering controls by plugging avenues for large undeclared cash movement.
The move nudges local corporates toward safer, traceable digital payment systems.
