ESQ Legal Practice Magazine JUNE 2014 EDITION | Page 36

GHANA EASES
FOREIGN-CURRENCY
RULES TO INCREASE
GREENBACK SUPPLY

T

he Bank of Ghana
reversed some
restrictions on the use
of the dollar and euro
to boost foreign
exchange supplies after
companies said the rules made
it more difficult to obtain cash.

Foreign companies will be
allowed to pay local
businesses using currencies
other than the cedi, and
exporters can retain 60 percent
of revenue in foreign
denominated accounts and
convert 40 percent within 15
The central bank overturned a days, he said.
rule that requires exporters to “We've seen that some
convert proceeds from sales
economic agents, because of
abroad to the cedi in five days,
misapplication of the rules, are
Benjamin Amoah, head of
having problems, and we're
financial stability, told
streamlining it,” he said.
reporters in Accra, the capital.

“With the review it is expected
that availability of foreign
currency on the market will
increase.”

importers and set limits on
who can have accounts
denominated in foreign
currencies.

The bank issued orders in
February requiring all
companies use the cedi in local
transactions to prevent the
economy from becoming
dependent on foreign
currencies. The bank also
limited the use of dollars and
euros to exporters and

The cedi gained 2.7 percent to
3.035 per dollar as of 12:22
p.m. in Accra, paring losses
this year to 22 percent, the
biggest drop among 24
African currencies monitored
by Bloomberg.

GUINEA'S PARLIAMENT
APPROVES RIO TINTO
$20 BILLION AGREEMENT

L

awmakers in Guinea
approved an
agreement signed by
the government, Rio
Tinto, Chinalco and
the International Finance
Corp. that plans $20 billion

www.esqlaw.net

investment in the Simandou
iron-ore mine.
“We congratulate the
government for this excellent
project,” National Assembly
President Claude Kory
Kondiano said. “It is a good

contract because of the quality
of shareholders Rio Tinto,
Chinalco and IFC, the World
Bank's private-sector financing
arm.”

resource. The deal foresees the
construction of a 650kilometer (403-mile) railway
and a deepwater port.

Simandou is the world's
largest untapped iron-ore

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