The Bank of Sierra Leone has issued Press Release warning dollar boys across the country to desist forthwith from changing dollar in the streets of Freetown without having official license from the Bank of Sierra Leone.
Pursuant to section 48(3) of the Bank of Sierra Leone Act 2019, the Bank of Sierra Leone hereby directs as follows:
Foreign currency trading (meaning, the buying and/or selling of foreign currency) shall be undertaken by only commercial banks and licensed foreign exchange bureaus.
Commercial banks and licensed foreign exchange bureaus shall engage in foreign currency transactions at only their registered business address on file at the Bank of Sierra Leone.
Street trading of foreign currency is expressly prohibited with immediate effect,
Buying foreign currency from, or selling foreign currency to, persons or entities that are not commercial banks or licensed foreign exchange bureaus is strictly prohibited.
The bank of Sierra Leone further warned that contravening any of the above directives shall constitute a violation of the Bank of Sierra Leone Act, 2019. Upon conviction, violators shall be liable to a fine of 100 million Leones or an imprisonment for a term less than 3 years of both.