Garowe (PP News Desk) — Puntland State Government moved to clarify the policy to collect import-export duties only in US dollars due to its unintended consequences for the use of the Somali shilling for transactions.
In a statement on tackling the inflation, Puntland Government resolved to regulate electronic money transfers via Sahal and E-dahab.
“In response to complaints about the exchange rate in Puntland, from December 5, 2020, any transactions less than 1 US$ will not be used for money transfer wallets such as Sahal and E-Dahab” reads the statement.
Puntland Government instructed local governments in Puntland to accept the Somali shilling for transactions. “ The use of the Somali shilling has not been banned in Puntland” the statement added.
On Tuesday, Puntland Government issued a decree on the sole use of the US dollars for collecting import-export duties.
Businesses in Puntlanded switched to use of the US dollars for transactions due to a higher exchange rate of the greenback against Puntland-printed Somali shillings.
Economists believe the belated, light regulation of the money transfer wallets will have a negligible impact to rein in the inflation in Puntland.
© Puntland Post, 2020
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