Saturday 12 November 2011

Foreign exchange controls


Foreign exchange controls are various forms of controls imposed by a government on the purchase/sale of foreign currencies by residents or on the purchase/sale of local currency by nonresidents.

Common foreign exchange controls include:
Banning the use of foreign currency within the country
Banning locals from possessing foreign currency
Restricting currency exchange to government-approved exchangers
Fixed exchange rates
Restrictions on the amount of currency that may be imported or exported

Countries with foreign exchange controls are also known as "Article 14 countries," after the provision in the International Monetary Fund agreement allowing exchange controls for transitional economies. Such controls used to be common in most countries, particularly poorer ones, until the 1990s when free trade and globalization started a trend towards economic liberalization. Today, countries which still impose exchange controls are the exception rather than the rule.

Current countries with foreign exchange controls

(list very incomplete)
This is an incomplete list, which may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.
Argentina
Armenia
Bahamas
Barbados
Brazil
China
Cuba
Egypt
Fiji
Georgia (country)
Iceland
India
Sri Lanka
Libya
Malaysia
Mauritius
Theoretically speaking, exchange controls were abolished in 1994, but the rules still state that repatriation of foreign investment and the profits from it is subject to proof of the origin of the money, and subject to payment of any outstanding Mauritian taxes.
Morocco
Myanmar
Namibia
Nigeria
North Korea
Pakistan
Papua New Guinea
Samoa
Russia
Seychelles
South Africa
Tunisia
Ukraine
Venezuela
Zimbabwe

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