Anyone seeking to offer foreign exchange services in Uganda will be required to have a capital of at least Shs200 million or face closure within six months should a draft law pass in its current form.
The current minimum capital requirement for forex bureaus is Shs50 million but a proposal in the Foreign Exchange (Amendment) Act, 2023 wants the figure to be increased fourfold.
Moses Kaggwa, the acting director of economic affairs at the Finance ministry, said that if one has an office or premises where to operate a forex bureau and remitting money, he must have a minimum of four professional staff who maybe earning about Shs1 million every month, must have computers, a security room, security outside, and the cost of those items alone is more than Shs50 million..
Henry Musasizi, the junior Finance minister, told the House’s Finance committee last week that the current legal provisions in the legislation on the amendment table leave a lot to be desired.
Tucked in the draft law presented on Tuesday last week, the government wants Parliament to empower the Finance ministry and Bank of Uganda to revise or alter the capital amount for any institution or individual seeking to establish a forex bureau at any point without parliamentary approval.
