How Ghana’s banking system exploits the dollar dream

As a money expert, I realise that the Ghanaian public has come face to face with a painful contradiction — while the Bank of Ghana quotes the dollar at GH¢10.30, the average person on the street is forced to buy it for over GH¢13.00 from forex bureaus. 

This isn’t just a minor pricing discrepancy. It is a flashing red signal that something deeper is broken in our financial system.

Our currency, the Ghana cedi, is not simply weakening; it is losing credibility. The official numbers, updated daily by the central bank, offer comfort to those reading dashboards and economic reports.

However, in the real economy — at the ports, in the markets, at travel agencies, and in small business offices — the truth is brutally different.

The gap between the official exchange rate and the rate ordinary Ghanaians are forced to pay is no longer tolerable.

It is undermining trust in our institutions, suffocating businesses and accelerating inflation.

This article is not to sensationalise or to spread fear but to confront the painful truth: Ghana is operating two economies — the one on paper and the one on the street.

Illusion of paper rate

As of June 2025, the Bank of Ghana’s interbank rate sits around GH¢10.30 per US dollar. Commercial banks are selling dollars to priority clients at rates between GH¢10.50 and GH¢10.80.

However, for ordinary Ghanaians — whether it’s an importer of spare parts in Abossey Okai or a parent paying international school fees — the dollar now costs between GH¢12.50 and GH¢13.50 at forex bureaus.

This raises a fundamental question: What is the real exchange rate? Is it the one printed by the central bank or the one experienced by the people? If most citizens and small businesses can only access forex through unofficial means, then the true national exchange rate is what the average Ghanaian pays — not what a spreadsheet reports.

A system failing the people

At the heart of this crisis is a failure of supply, transparency and trust.

Banks are unable or unwilling to provide sufficient dollars to the market. Bureaucracy, limited reserves and regulatory controls have made it extremely difficult for everyday people to access foreign currency legally.

This forces demand into the informal market — forex bureaus and black-market dealers — where prices reflect actual market tension.

The result is devastating:

• Importers can’t plan accurately and are forced to overcharge.

• Consumers face rising prices, especially for imported goods and services.

• The cedi weakens even further, as demand for the US dollar grows.

• Corruption festers, as only the connected can access dollars at official rates.

•  Most dangerously, public trust in the cedi erodes, accelerating dollarisation.

We are not just dealing with an economic problem; we are watching the early stages of a currency confidence collapse.

What’s causing this?

• Overreliance on imports: Ghana imports nearly everything — fuel, food, spare parts, electronics. This creates constant high demand for the US dollar but we don’t export enough to balance the inflow of forex.

• Weak FX reserves: The central bank can only supply limited dollars. If Ghana doesn’t produce or export more, we cannot sustain an artificial exchange rate.

• Policy illusions: The government wants to appear in control. So, the interbank rate is managed carefully — but managing a number doesn’t manage the market. Eventually, reality catches up.

• Lack of commodity backing: The cedi is a fiat currency — backed by trust, not resources. In unstable times, people flee to assets they perceive as real — gold, US dollar or land.

The danger of two economies

Ghana cannot function sustainably when it operates two parallel economies:

• One for the elite, who can access foreign exchange at “official” rates.

• One for the average person, who must survive on inflated, street-level prices.

This duality creates resentment, widens inequality and fosters economic injustice.

It is also a breeding ground for corruption, where access to official FX becomes a tool of favouritism and political patronage. 

When the people no longer believe in the official system, a silent rebellion begins — not in protests, but in disobedience, hoarding, foreign transactions and capital flight.

This is how nations lose control of their own economies.

What must be done?

• Tell the truth

The central bank and the Ministry of Finance must acknowledge the real situation — not just in technical memos but openly and publicly. Stop masking the reality with artificial confidence. Ghanaians can handle the truth — what they cannot handle is deception.

• Rebuild the FX market on reality

Allow a flexible FX system that reflects real demand and supply — with buffers, not manipulation. Stabilise it through commodity-based instruments, especially our gold and oil.

• Decentralise dollar access

Break the monopoly of FX distribution. Make the forex market more transparent, competitive and accountable — including in how banks and forex bureaus set rates.

• Back the cedi with real value

Consider introducing gold-backed currency instruments or resource-linked trade models, such as the gold-for-oil initiative. Let the cedi mean something more than a printing press and a promise.

• Rebuild public trust

Currency is faith. The cedi must be tied to something real — not just on paper but in how people live and trade every day.

We cannot fake value

Ghana is not poor. But Ghana is mismanaged — not just in policy, but in truth.

A country that cannot face its own economic realities is a country that risks collapse.

The exchange rate crisis is not just about numbers. It’s about truth, sovereignty and justice.

The longer we maintain the illusion of control, the more we lose actual control.

Let us stop pretending — and start rebuilding. Not with foreign aid.

Not with manipulation, but with honesty, value and national courage.

The quiet GH¢3.00 spread per dollar may look small — but over billions of dollars, it’s a massive wealth transfer from the people to the banks.

It is the type of robbery that wears a suit, uses a spreadsheet and never goes to jail.

If we do not rise and expose it, this injustice will deepen.

And our children will ask why we sat in silence while our currency, our dignity and our future were being auctioned by the very institutions meant to protect us.