Cedi depreciation: Too late for political jabs – Information Minister tells Minority

The Information Minister, Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah has described as too late, a news conference by the Minority to address the state of the economy and the challenges facing the Cedi.

While addressing journalists soon after the Minority did similar at the Parliament House on Wednesday, the Minister said they are known for not having any better alternatives and it was no surprise that they offered none.

“The substance of their presentation today, essentially, is that the cedi has depreciated and importers have taken a hit. This is an already acknowledged point and government has already been working how to address the situation. The BoG (Bank of Ghana) has outlined its short term measures. The Finance Minister announced medium-term measures and today you are beginning to see a gradual recovery of the Ghanaian cedi.

“So the cedi is gradually making a comeback and this minority attempts to take political jabs is a bit late in the day,” the Minister who is also MP for Ofoase-Ayirebi remarked.

The Minority believes government is doing a bad job at managing the economy

The Minority used their press conference to call on the government to present a new budget to Parliament, as the November 2018 one presented cannot be relied on “as the true blueprint upon which the economy is managed.”

Citing last week’s sharp depreciation of the cedi, its spokesperson on Finance, Ato Forson said the development has “thrown the economy in disarray and the projections surrounding it as contained in the 2019 budget.

“This has, therefore, undermined the confidence in the economy which is also sending wrong signals to the investor community. This calls for urgent steps to be taken by government to restore the economy,” he added.

But Mr Oppong-Nkrumah found their suggestions ludicrous, especially at a time when the cedi has begun a gradual bounce back against its major trading currency, the dollar.



The cedi moved from 5.6 last week to 5.4 cedis on Wednesday.

He also accused the Minority of making claims that always tend to be untrue, “You recall the Minority’s claim that literally Ghana has been sold to Franklin Templeton in the first issuance of the $2.25 bond and all the brouhaha that followed, which was totally unfounded. You recall the Minority’s claim that the ESLA bond transaction was going to be a failure and again at the end of it, in terms of the numbers that came, that was also unfounded.

“You recall the Minority’s prediction of 1983-like famine ahead of the midyear budget review of 2017 which prediction did not also come to pass. You recall the Minority’s prediction of an increase in VAT, which also did not come to pass. You recall the Minority writing to the IMF to pronounce that the Synohydro transaction was a loan and the IMF’s response declining that invitation because it is not.”

Mr Oppong-Nkrumah said it was no surprise that the Minority could not offer any better economic analysis as they are known to have consistently “shot over the bar” in previous attempts.

He is confident that the recent efforts being made by government, in addition to the issuance of the $3 billion bond “as well as some of the other medium-term items that have been outlined will lead to an eventual reversal of the recent shocks that the currency has suffered.”

Source: Myjoyonline.com