Central Bank Issues New Directive Setting Out Framework For Foreign Currency Transactions

The National Bank of Rwanda ( "the Central Bank"), on 17 September 2025, issued the new directive no. 4230/2025-00042 [613] governing persons authorized to transact in foreign currencies and the requirements for obtaining authorization to that effect ("the Directive"). The Directive is aimed at streamlining the enforcement of the regulation n° 42 /2022 of 13/04/2022 governing foreign exchange operations as amended ("the FX Regulation") which had prompted a mixed bag of reaction from various stakeholders.

This Directive reiterates the general rule that all monetary obligations or transactions entered or made in the Republic of Rwanda must be transacted in Rwandan franc ("FRW") as a sole legal tender in Rwanda. Unlike its predecessor (i.e. Directive no 0520/2023-00041 [613.1.4] of 22/02/2023), the Directive expands the list of the persons permitted to transaction in foreign currency without having to obtain prior authorisation from the Central Bank (referred