By: Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
The President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has told Ghanaians that the Cedi’s appreciation against the United States (US) Dollar is as a result of the good measures taken by his government in partnership with the Bank of Ghana (BoG).
Mr. Akufo-Addo explained that the appreciation did not happen by chance, but by concerted efforts put up by managers of the economy.
Addressing members of the Ga Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana at its centenary celebration in Accra on Sunday, December 18, 2022, the President said,
“At the height of our challenges there were some who doubted the capabilities of my government and I to return our nation back onto the path of progress and prosperity and lift us out of our current problems.
In those dark moments, my fellow Ghanaians and congregation, I could only recount the words of St Matthew chapter 19 verse 26 which states ‘But Jesus looked at them and said to them, with men this is impossible but with God all things are possible.”
Mr. Akufo-Addo continues by saying “With the appropriate policy, determination and hard work on our part things are beginning to turn around. What seemed impossible yesterday is now becoming possible. We are definitely not out of the woods yet. However, today, the Cedi is rapidly appreciating against the US Dollar and all major currencies, making up for its losses and the prices of petroleum products are reducing at the pump.
“The strengthening of the Cedi has not happened by chance but through the implementation of deliberate policies by the government in collaboration with the Bank of Ghana. These include Cedi liquidity tightening measures resulting in the offloading of forex as stalled value by speculators, the improvement of forex inflows from remittances and the mining sector, and the reaching of the staff level agreement with the IMF for a 3 billion US Dollar package. All these have combined to bring the Cedi to this position and I can assure you that government will continue to work hard to maintain and sustain the gains made.”
Indeed, in the weeks ahead, the BoG will continue with the purchases of forex from the mining and oil sectors to enhance liquidity supply to the markets, continue with a single unified forex forward auction, and some modest targeted bilateral support to critical import, President Akufo-Addo announced.