By: Rancy Clarke
As Liberians experience a sudden rise in the exchange rate between the United States Dollar and the Liberian Dollar, the Central Bank of Liberia has called on money exchangers and business owners to comply with directives from the government of Liberia to stabilize the US exchange rate.
Recent directives issued by the government demand that licensed foreign exchange bureaus post their rates inside their business premises and that these rates must reflect the exchange rate published by the CBL.
In an effort to actualize the directives, the CBL through its Senior Communications Specialist, Alphonsus Zeon has disclosed that it will commence the enforcement of the foreign exchange regulations beginning Monday, July 31, 2023.
“The exercise will be carried out by a joint team from the CBL, the National Association of Foreign Exchange Bureaus of Liberia (NAFEBOL) and officers of the Liberia National Police (LNP)” he said.
This according to him is aimed at identifying illegal foreign exchange operators in the market and sensitizing these operators and businesses to desist from engaging in foreign exchange activities or face the full weight of the law, in keeping with the Amended and Restated CBL Act of 2020 and CBL Regulation concerning foreign exchange operations.
Mr. Zeon told Radio Gbarnga via telephone recently that in keeping with the recent directives issued by the government, licensed foreign exchange bureaus are warned to post their rates inside their business premises. These rates must reflect the exchange rate published by CBL, which can be found in newspapers, and on CBL website and Facebook page.
As of Tuesday July 18, 2023, the CBL rate stands at $183 dollars to US$1.00.
With this report, it means that Liberia sits at the 18th place on the list of African countries with the highest US-exchange rate. Sierra Leone, a neighbor to Liberia is the first according to Statista, a German online platform specialized in data gathering and visualization.
Among other key measures to control the inflation, Mr. Zeon announced the Government’s plan to pay 80 percent of Civil Servants salaries in United States Dollars and 20 percent in Liberian dollars for the month of July.
He added that these regulations are intended to control the current inflation and strengthen the Liberian dollar against the United States dollar.
Meanwhile, the CBL is reminding all licensed foreign exchange operators who have not paid their annual operating levy for 2023 to do so, to avoid regulatory action by the Bank, including, but not limited to, revocation of their licenses.
