Ghana rows back on foreign exchange restrictions

ACCRA, May 23 (Reuters) - Ghana has withdrawn some of the recent restrictions it announced on foreign exchange purchases, Germa Bergashaw, resident representative of the International Monetary Fund, said on Tuesday.

The measures, announced in April, were part of a package aimed at strengthening the local currency, the cedi.

Among the measures withdrawn is a $2,000-dollar restriction on the amount of foreign exchange an individual could purchase in a single transaction or in a day.

Also withdrawn is the requirement for foreign exchange bureaux to submit weekly, rather than monthly, returns to the central bank.

Foreign exchange bureaux must now submit their returns within 10 days after the end of each month, and people can withdraw up to $3,000 per transaction, as stipulated in accordance with existing laws.

The retreat of the finance ministry follows a letter from the IMF's Africa Department in Washington, published in the independent Crusading Guide newspaper, and confirmed by Bergashaw as authentic.

The letter said the restrictions placed on foreign exchange transactions seemed to roll back much of the progress made in establishing a liberal exchange and payments system.

Bergashaw told Reuters the letter to the finance ministry was routine and only sought clarifications on the measures.

"We didn't instruct them to reverse the measures," Bergashaw said. "We only pointed out that they contradicted the existing laws."

The reversal of the measures has been given less publicity than their announcement.

The updated rules have been sent, without commentary, to foreign exchange bureaux by the central bank, the Bank of Ghana.