If you talk down the cedi, 'it will go down' - Akufo-Addo states, warns forex 'speculators'

As part of his October 30, 2022 address on the economy, the president regretted instances where people have through unorthodox means triggered depreciation of the cedi, especially through speculation.

He charged the populace to do all it takes to protect the cedi by way of complementing efforts that the government has so far put in place.

"Fellow Ghanaians, as the French would say, l’argent n’aime pas le bruit, to wit, money does not like noise, sika mpɛ dede. Where there is chaos, where there is noise, where there is unrest, you will not find money.

"If you talk down your money, it will go down. If you allow some unidentifiable person to talk down your money, it will go down," he stressed.

He went on to give a diagnosis of the current headache that the currency is facing and identified the role that the Black market and speculators were playing in worsening the plight of the cedi.

"The recent turbulence on the financial markets was caused by low inflows of foreign exchange, and was made worse in the last two to three weeks, in particular, by the activities of speculators and the Black Market.

"An anonymous two-minute audio message on a WhatsApp platform predicting a so-called haircut on Government bonds sent all of us into banks and forex bureaus to dump our cedis, and, before we knew it, the cedi had depreciated further.

"All of us can play a part in helping to strengthen the cedi by having confidence in the currency, and avoiding speculation. Let us keep our cedi as the good store of value it is," he stated.

Then he delivered a word of caution to speculators: "To those who make it a habit of publishing falsehoods, which result in panic in the system, I say to them that the relevant state agencies will act against such persons," he stressed.

Some steps taken to restore order in the forex markets:

1) enhanced supervisory action by the Bank of Ghana in the forex bureau markets and the black market to flush out illegal operators, as well as ensuring that those permitted to operate legally abide by the market rules. Already some forex bureaus have had their licenses revoked, and this exercise will continue until complete order is restored in the sector;

2) Fresh inflows of dollars are providing liquidity to the foreign exchange market, and addressing the pipeline demand;

3) the Bank of Ghana has given its full commitment to the commercial banks to provide liquidity to ensure the wheels of the economy continue to run in a stabilized manner, till the IMF Programme kicks in and the financing assurances expected from other partners also come in;

4) Government is working with the Bank of Ghana and the oil producing and mining companies to introduce a new legal and regulatory framework to ensure that all foreign exchange earned from operations in Ghana are, initially, paid to banks domiciled in Ghana to help boost the domestic foreign exchange market; and

5) the Bank of Ghana will enhance its gold purchase programme.

"I am confident that these immediate measures designed to change the structure of our balance of payment flows, sanitise the foreign exchange market to ensure that the banks and forex bureaus operate along international best practices, together with strengthened supervision, will go a long way to sanitize our foreign exchange market, and make it more resilient against external vulnerabilities going forward," he added.