(Bloomberg) -- Tanzania’s central bank imposed a raft of restrictions on foreign-currency dealings to curb a shortage of dollars and safeguard the stability of the financial system.

Measures include the banning of unlicensed international foreign-currency brokers and a requirement that all forex transactions exceeding $1 million in the retail market be traded within the interbank foreign-exchange market at the prevailing rate, the Bank of Tanzania said in new directives.

The new measures take effect on June 1 and are intended to “foster macroeconomic stability and safeguard the stability of the financial system in the country,” the central bank said. They add to those that require dealers to maintain a limit of foreign exchange net open position of 10% of core capital.

The move comes after a drop of foreign reserves and shortages of hard currency in the banking system.

Tanzania’s foreign-exchange reserves fell to $4.9 billion at the end of April, from $5.5 billion a year earlier, sufficient to still meet the benchmark of at least four months of import cover, according to central bank data.

Kenya, Nigeria, Malawi and Zimbabwe have also been dealing with dollar shortages as they use it to pay for imports and foreign debts.

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