US$3bn lost in export proceeds annually

A third of the nations export value is lost to exporters flouting foreign account regulations, thats according to the Eric Hammond, Head of Banking at the Bank of Ghana (BoG).

The Central Bank of Ghana says Ghana loses more than US$3 billion annually from export proceeds.

The bank believes that exporters fail to repatriate their proceeds.

Mr. Hammond explains that his outfit has gathered defaulters and they are being call on them made to produce evidence of their repatriation receipts.

READ ALSO:

Addressing participants at the Importers and Exporters Seminar in Ghana's capital Accra, Mr Hammond stressed that repatriating monies earned from exports is compulsory.

Section 15 of the Foreign Exchange Act stipulates that exporters who fail to repatriate their export proceeds to Ghana are liable to a fine of five penalty points and they can also be imprisoned for not more than 10yrs.

"Exporters shall ensure repatriation of export proceeds in accordance with the terms of the export, provided that all export proceeds shall be received and repatriated immediately within a period not exceeding 60 days from the day of shipment of goods," Eric Hammond said.

He added that the BoG is currently running an investigation to identify more defaulters so as to prosecute them.

Mr Hammond also cautioned exporters against using the black forex market, saying it is illegal, and that the country needs foreign exchange to develop.

Importers who use the transit system as a smoke screen in order to avoid the payment of import duties that, "they will soon be arrested, he warned.

He was however confident that the Pre-Arrival Assessment Reporting System (PAARS), a system introduced by the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to process import documents, will help all commercial banks check anomalies in import and export.