[ 2012-08-14 ]

Black Market operators take over forex exchange business in Kumasi
Forex bureau operators in Kumasi are accusing
wayside currency dealers popularly known as
'black-marketers' of killing the business.

They blame the Bank of Ghana's measures to
restrict the amount of Dollars the bureaux can
sell to the public for the situation.

Checks by Luv Biz Report reveal business is
booming for illegal dealers, especially, at
Alabar, the nerve centre of 'black-marketing'.

The illegal business is dominated by non-Ghanaians
who pay no tax to government.

Though they will not speak on record, many of them
admit they are making it big because they are not
affected by the central bank directive.

A forex bureau operator who pleaded anonymity said
many legal entities in the sector had collapsed as
a result, and thinks the Bank of Ghana must act to
reverse the trend.

“Here in Alabar, the problem is, we have many
competitors, that is the black marketers. In the
past there were over twenty forex bureau operators
here but all have ceased operations due to the
black market operations. For every transaction,
the Bank of Ghana charges us some fee in addition
to a tax. Because these people do not pay any tax,
they exchange the currency at cheaper prices. This
is killing our business”, he said.

Some traders who spoke to Luv Biz Report say they
prefer doing business with the wayside operators
instead of the forex bureau.

According to them, the 'black marketers' never run
out of foreign currency, in addition to having
cheaper rates.

“For the banks and bureaux, they always run short
of the dollars. When they have it, it's very
expensive so we resort to black-marketers. The
secret is most of the business tycoons patronize
the black-market operations. For them, they can
reduce it to a very low price especially when you
buy in large quantum from them”, some traders
opined.

Source - Luv FM

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