A former Central Regional Minister, Kwamena Duncan, has opined that the Central Bank Governor, Dr Ernest Addison, and his two deputies must be commended for saving the economy from an imminent collapse.
According to him, the Central Bank in 2022 had to intervene in order to salvage a collapse of the economy by way of lending financial support and taking haircuts associated with government’s debt sustainability programmes.
Making his submission on Accra-based Peace FM, Kwamena Duncan who is also a leading member of the governing NPP said the financial support given to government during the period was endorsed by the International Monetary Fund.
“You will recall that many people doubted if the economy was in crisis because they did not hear that interest payments were not being paid in early 2022, they did not see queues at the pumps for petrol and diesel, there were no shortages of essential items on the market.
...And they did not hear that public sector workers including civil servants, the police and the military are not being paid their salaries. The reason was that the Bank of Ghana had provided the needed support to keep the economy going and this is what the governor and his deputies chose to do to get this country going” he pointed out.
He stressed the IMF urged the Bank of Ghana to support the economy after holding meetings with the Ministry of Finance and other stakeholders.
“During a meeting with the IMF, Ministry of Finance and all the stakeholders, the Fund urged for continued support to government in order not to leave a vacuum and if you compare with other governments elsewhere, Ghana is better off” Kwamena Duncan.
The remarks by the former Minister comes after the Minority in Parliament have been clamoring for the resignation of the BoG Governor [Ernest Addison] and his two deputies for what they say is gross mismanagement of the economy.
The Central Bank has been under criticism over its role in providing lending support to finance government but the Bank has occasionally explained that the decision was made in order to avert an economic collapse.
In the 2022 financial year, the Bank of Ghana recorded an impairment loss of GH¢60.8 billion which a huge portion of the amount culminating from haircuts associated with government's Debt Exchange Programme.
MA/NOQ
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