The Bank of Ghana (BoG) is putting in measures in place to surrender portions of the export receipts from cocoa and gold directly to the banks in the second half of 2016.

This, according to the Central Bank, is to deepen the foreign exchange market.

Stephen Amegashie, Head of Governor’s Department, Bank of Ghana, disclosed this when he represented Millison Narh, First Deputy Governor at the Journalists For Business Advocacy, a two-day advanced training workshop sponsored by Ecobank in Accra.

He said “previously export proceeds from cocoa and gold were surrendered to the Bank of Ghana (BoG). The BoG then sells to the banks as and when they need arises.

“Now from the second half of the year the programme is that the foreign exchange will go directly to the banks without going through the Central Bank. Whoever earns the forex will have access to it and will sell it on the inter-bank market. The same will apply to the cocoa proceeds.”

Mr. Amegashie said the Central Bank had initiated a number of reforms aimed at ensuring that the financial system remained strong and stable.

“To this end, a number of bills are under consideration at the legislature.

These include The Banks and Specialized Deposit-Taking Institutions Bill and Ghana Deposit Bill,” he said.

Mr. Amegashie said the Banks and Specialized Deposit-Taking Institutions Bill, when finally approved, will bridge the gaps associated with consolidated supervision, bank resolution, and address other weakness identified in the existing legal framework.

He said the Ghana Deposit Bill, when passed, will provide protection for small depositors and also support the development of a safe, sound and efficient stable market-based financial system in Ghana.

Mr. Amegashie said there have been calls for amendment of the BoG Act to strengthen the autonomy of the Central Bank to implement monetary policy effectively by reinforcing the independence of the Board and Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) and putting clear limits on Central Bank’s financing of government.

He said, “The implication of the Central Bank financing government is quite inflationary, and the current regime of inflation you see might have been the effect of previous Central Bank financing of government. So the new act says no to BoG financing of government.”