As part of moves to arrest the depreciation of the cedi, officials of the Bank of Ghana, working with the Ghana Police Service, have arrested scores of black-market forex dealers operating without a certified licence from the regulator.

The suspects, numbering more than 70, comprised of individuals and agencies.

They were arrested at Rawlings Park, Makola and Tudu, all within the central business district of Aaccra.

The Head of Forex Exchange Bureau at the Bank of Ghana, Adjoa Konadu Torto, told the media in an interview that the central banks hopes to arrest the fall of the cedi through the exercise.

“This special operation was part of the Bank’s overall strategy to sanitise the foreign exchange market”, she noted.

“Other measures being put in place include enforcement of compliance from licensed foreign exchange bureaux, particularly with the taking of customer identification (Ghana card) and issuance of electronic receipt for every forex transaction; intensified public sensitisation and media engagements to educate the general public on forex rules and regulations, including the need to avoid the black market,” she added.

She said the central bank is warning the general public “to desist from engaging in foreign exchange business without a licence”.

She noted that “members of the public who patronise the activities of black market operators are equally guilty before the law”.

“The general public must always trade with the Bank of Ghana licensed foreign exchange (forex) bureaux,” she said.