The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has charged exporters to repatriate all export proceeds through the formal banking system, warning that unreturned earnings weaken the country’s foreign exchange reserves and undermine efforts to stabilise the cedi and control inflation.

Second Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Matilda Asante-Asiedu, said the failure to return export earnings limits Ghana’s capacity to finance imports and withstand external economic shocks.

Speaking at a stakeholder engagement on the revised Letters of Commitment (LOC) guidelines, she stressed the importance of ensuring that foreign exchange generated from exports returns to the domestic economy.

“Every dollar of exports that fails to come to Ghana has many implications,” she said.

Mrs Asante-Asiedu cited rising global oil prices, noting that Ghana’s oil import bill had increased by nearly 40% amid geopolitical tensions. She said the country’s foreign exchange buffers had helped meet import needs while limiting the impact on domestic prices.

She added that exchange rate stability was critical to businesses, particularly shipping operators, whose costs were largely denominated in foreign currencies.

Meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Shippers’ Authority, Prof. Ransford Gyampo, has cautioned exporters against allowing their businesses and shipping processes to be used for transporting illicit drugs.

He warned that such activities could damage Ghana’s international reputation and expose legitimate traders to increased scrutiny and delays.

“They shouldn’t allow themselves for a few greedy and selfish people to use their processes to transport or to use them to transport some of these illicit drugs”, he said.

Prof. Gyampo also urged exporters to comply with the LOC requirements to ensure that export proceeds are repatriated through commercial banks.

Head of Revenue Assurance at the Ministry of Finance, Victor Kofi Baidoo, warned that exporters who fail to repatriate their proceeds risk having their transactions treated as domestic sales, attracting applicable duties, taxes and other sanctions.

“This means that any export declaration without a repatriation would not be considered an export and would be seen as domestic sales”, he said.

Mr. Baidoo explained that amendments to the Customs Act make the repatriation of export proceeds a key requirement for completing export declarations, as the government intensifies efforts to curb revenue losses and improve compliance.