The recurring balance of payment difficulties of many host countries and their need to conserve foreign exchange to pay for essential goods and services greatly reduce their ability and willingness to grant investors the unrestricted right to make monetary transfers, hence many countries have exchange-control laws to regulate the conversion and transfer of currency abroad. The host country may limit the extent to which local currency can be converted into foreign currency, the rate that can be obtained in such a transaction, how much of such currency can be transferred off-shore, which will be essential to pay foreign lenders and to repatriate profits off-shore.