The Bank of Central African States (BEAC) will levy, as of January 1, 2021, a tax of 0.5% on outgoing transfers outside the Cémac zone. In a recently published note, the governor of this banking institution, Abbas Mahamat Tolli, instructed national directors on the implementation of the measure.
“The rate of the commission to be charged by the Central Bank, during the execution of outgoing transfers outside Cémac on behalf of authorized intermediaries is set at 0.5%, excluding taxes of the amount. It comes in addition to the commission rate applied by credit institutions to their customers, which cannot exceed 1%, excluding tax of the amount in accordance with instruction n ° 002 / GR / 2019 relating to the pricing of transfer operations ” , says Abbas Mahamat Tolli.
Regarding transactions, on behalf of national treasuries and public accountants, as well as sub-participants in payment systems and means holding accounts in the books of the Central Bank, the commission rate to be charged is set at 0.25% excluding tax of the amount. In addition, the various commission rates do not include the central bank’s correspondent fees.
In an attempt to prevent currency leakage, the BEAC adopted in December 2018 currency exchange regulations in the sub-regional area. These regulations require that transactions with the outside are carried out only through credit institutions and transfer orders related to transfers issued within two working days of the customer’s request. The approval of the bank branch manager is required when the amount of the transfer exceeds one million CFA francs.
