Over 70 people and businesses engaged in the business of purchasing and selling foreign currencies without a license from the top bank have been detained by Bank of Ghana employees working with the Ghana Police Service.

The action followed a specific operation the two organizations undertook on foreign exchange parallel market operators, also known as black market operators.

The perpetrators who were caught in Accra's Central Business District, notably Rawlings Park, Makola, and Tudu, are expected to face prosecution.

The rapid depreciation of the local currency in comparison to the dollar and other important foreign currencies is attributed to the "Black Market" dealers.

Speaking to Citi News after the exercise, Head of Forex Exchange Bureau at the Bank of Ghana, Adjoa Konadu Torto, noted that the move is part of measures to check the free fall of the local currency.

“This special operation was part of the Bank’s overall strategy to sanitize the foreign exchange market. Other measures being put in place include enforcement of compliance from licensed foreign exchange bureaux particularly with the taking of customer identification (Ghana card) and issuance of electronic receipt for every forex transaction; intensified public sensitization and media engagements to educate the general public on forex rules and regulations, including the need to avoid the black market,” she said.

She indicated that the exercise will continue in other parts of the country in the coming days.

The Bank further issued a strong caution to the general public to desist from engaging in the services of foreign exchange businesses operating without a licence.

“The Bank cautions the general public to desist from engaging in foreign exchange business without a licence. Members of the public who patronise the activities of black market operators are equally guilty before the law. The general public must always trade with the Bank of Ghana licensed foreign exchange (forex) bureaux,” she noted.