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Nana Addo’s Cedi Better Than Mahama’s

• Finance Min. Goes Defensive

The Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori Attah has once again come to the rescue of the Ghana Cedi describing its performance as the most impressive in the last six years.

According to him, the cedi performed way better under the Akufo-Addo government compared to the erstwhile Mahama led administration.

Delivering the 2018 Mid-year Budget Review in Parliament, yesterday, Mr Ofori Attah went all defensive―quoting various figures to buttress his assertions.

He indicated that prior to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) resuming power nearly two years ago, the value of the US Dollars as against the Cedi stood at 17.5% in 2012, 14.5% in 2013, 31.3% in 2014, 15.7% in 2015, 9.7% in 2016 and 4.9% in 2017.

“A further interrogation of the data from Bank of Ghana shows that, the depreciation for the first half (6 months) of 2018 has been the best since 2012,” the minister noted.

The submissions of Mr Ofori Attah raised a critiquing roar from the Minority in Parliament, probably demanding explanations to the recent cedi fall.

Responding to this, the minister said the cedi came under pressure in June primarily because of external pressures.

“In fact, Mr Speaker, aside from the short transitory volatilities recorded in June this year, the average performance of the dollar (cedi) has been one of the best in recent years,” he noted.

He said, “It is instructive to note, Mr Speaker, that from January 2018 to June 2018 the cumulative depreciation of the Ghana cedi against the dollar was 2.4% as against 17.2% in 2012, 3.3% in 2016 and 3.7% in 2017.”

Currency Stability 

Mr Ofori-Atta was confident the cedi’s performance at the end of the year will be much better than the 4.9% recorded in the previous year.

“If this is anything to go by it means that the 2018 performance of the Ghana cedi is likely, Mr Speaker, to be better than even the 4.9% we experienced in 2017 giving us an all-time low compared to the four years of the Mahama administration,” he stated.

The minister said government was working assiduously to improve fundamentals of the economy to stabilise the currency and to make it stronger.

He stressed “BoG has built sufficient reserves due to the country’s trade surplus and strong portfolio inflows and are taking measures to stabilize the Cedi, reduce inflation and interest rates.”

By: Grace Ablewor Sogbey/ [email protected] 

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