Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Dr Thapelo Matsheka, has told parliament that there is no maximum amount of hard cash an individual is allowed to carry when they travel to foreign destinations.
Dr Matsheka who was responding to a question by Member of Parliament for Molepolole North, Oabile Regoeng, said that there is no limit to the amount of hard cash an individual is allowed to carry even when entering Botswana.
He said that in line with the general cash transaction threshold provided for under Regulation 19 of the Financial Intelligence Act, travellers in or out of Botswana are required to declare to Botswana Unified Revenue Service (BURS) at the port of entry or exit, any hard cash in their possession exceeding P10 000 and provide a source of the money.
“In the absence of such proof, or if there are any suspicions, investigations are carried out by BURS to ascertain the source of money carried across the borders of Botswana, and the legitimacy thereof.”
He explained that all transactions involving declared amounts at borders are reported by BURS to the Finacial Intelligence Agency (FIA) as part of the Compliance Reports in terms of section 36 of the FIA.
“All suspected false cash declarations are reported as Suspicious Transactions, and are analysed and disseminated by FIA to Botswana Police Service and Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime for further investigation.”
Matsheka added that transactions that are not reported as suspicious are used by FIA for monitoring and intelligence purposes.
The MP for Molepolole North had asked Matsheka to state the amount of hard cash that an individual is allowed to carry when they travel to foreign destinations and the maximum allowed.
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