The Ghana Association of Bankers (GAB) has clarified that commercial banks have not received any official directive from the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to suspend over-the-counter withdrawals of foreign currencies.
This clarification follows recent comments made by BoG board member Dr. Isaac Adongo, who suggested during an interview on JoyNews’ PM Express that such a restriction would soon be enforced.
However, GAB Chief Executive John Awuah dismissed this, stating categorically that no such instruction has been issued by the central bank.
“I can say on authority that as a community of banks, we do not have any directive that bars over-the-counter withdrawal of USD or any foreign currency,” Mr Awuah said on JoyNews Prime.
He emphasized that banks only act on formal communications from the Bank of Ghana itself—not individual members of its board.
“And another point I want to make is we need to be very careful here, and with all due respect to the board member who spoke, Dr Isaac Adongo, that as banks, we do not take instructions from individual board directors of Bank of Ghana. Never. We do not take instructions from directors of the board. We take instructions from the Bank—the Bank here being the Bank of Ghana—under the pen of the Governor,” he stressed.
While acknowledging that customers must provide valid reasons to withdraw foreign currency, Mr Awuah noted that there is no outright ban in effect.
“You cannot just show up and withdraw foreign currency without justification. But there is no blanket prohibition,” he clarified.
He reiterated the need to maintain proper communication channels and cautioned against misinterpretations.
“With all due respect to Dr. Adongo, we do not take instructions from board directors. Our directives come from the Bank of Ghana under the Governor’s authority,” he said.
Mr Awuah also touched on Ghana’s recent macroeconomic gains, including improvements in exchange rate stability.
“We’ve witnessed fantastic currency performance. As a community, we must help sustain this stability,” he added, urging public support in protecting the cedi’s recent appreciation.
This clarification comes at a time when the central bank has been implementing various policy measures to strengthen the local currency.
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