Finance Minister Concedes Black-Market Currency Trade Weighs on Dalasi, but Says Impact Is Elusive

By Fatou Sillah

Finance Minister Seedy Keita told lawmakers on Wednesday that the country’s thriving black-market foreign exchange trade is exerting pressure on the dalasi, even as its precise impact remains difficult for the government to determine.

Responding to questions from members of the National Assembly, Mr. Keita acknowledged that the informal currency trade—long viewed as a driver of volatility—plays a role in shaping the exchange rate.

“The fact that this is an unregulated market means it will have an impact, but that impact will be hard to quantify,” he said.

Mr. Keita outlined a series of measures the government and the Central Bank have recently adopted in an effort to steady the currency. These include centralizing all currency shipments through the Central Bank, tightening licensing rules for foreign exchange bureaus, and introducing an electronic reporting platform designed to track transactions in real time.

“Recently, the Central Bank has implemented a number of policy measures to stabilize the Dalasi, such as centralization of currency shipment through the Central Bank, issuance of new regulations on the licensing of foreign exchange bureaus, and implementation of a new electronic reporting platform, which facilitates the monitoring of foreign exchange transactions on a real-time basis,” he said.

The minister likened currency to any traded security, noting that it “fluctuates based on supply and demand and market conditions. “Currency is like any trade security; it fluctuates based on supply and demand and market conditions,” he said.

Lawmakers pressed Mr. Keita for more decisive action against the black-market trade and emphasized the urgency of stabilizing the dalasi, which has faced sustained depreciation pressures. Mr. Keita said the government and the Central Bank were collaborating on additional regulations aimed at shifting more transactions into the formal market.

“The central bank is working jointly with the ministry to find out the best way and means to implement the proposed regulations to come into this, but it is still a work in progress,” he said.

He assured the Assembly that the administration intends to accelerate these efforts. “As I have mentioned, this is still a work in progress, and we will ensure that the necessary progress is realized soon enough for it to have an impact,” he said.