North Tongu Member of Parliament, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has said the inordinate fall of the Cedi against the Dollar should be seen as a national security threat.
He said the President must dissolve the Economic Management Team (EMT), sack the Finance Minister and quickly convene a non partisan forum to rescue the local currency.
In a tweet Mr Ablakwa said “The total crash of the Cedi must be seen as a major national security threat. President Akufo-Addo should immediately suspend his regional booing tours, sack his Finance Minister, dissolve his failed EMT & convene a non-partisan emergency economic rescue forum to harvest fresh ideas.”
Some analysts have however expressed confidence that the Cedi will soon stabilize.
For instance, Chief Operations Officer at Dalex Finance Mr Joe Jackson said people are finding it difficult to buy Dollars these days hence, are giving up.
Similarly, he said, he expects the government to announce signals to the market that it is reducing its expenditure. The measures, he added, will include debt restructuring. When that happens he said, the Cedi fall will slow.
Speaking on the Ghana Tonight show on TV3 with Alfred Ocansey on Wednesday October 19, he said “It is a tough time but I expect that the rate will slow down. The rate will slow down because at this moment, it is very hard to find dollars to buy and most of the people we have given up on buying Dollars and are slowing. I am also expecting that the government will soon announce measures that will indicate to the market that it is serious about the reducing its expenditure.
The measures, the biggest one is going to be debt restructuring, when that happens I expect the rate of the Cedi depreciation to slow down.”
Recently, the Second Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana Elsie Addo Awadzi also said the fall of the Cedi against the Dollar and also the high inflation rate (32.7%) are temporary.
She expressed confidence of a positive outlook for Ghana’s economy.
Speaking at the 21st Annual National RCB CEOs conference on the theme ‘Positioning Rural banking at the Centre of Financial Services delivery in Ghana – the role of stakeholders” she explained that recent global developments have heightened economic and business uncertainties for businesses and individuals. Our domestic economy is not spared from these developments.
The Bank of Ghana, she said is working closely with the Ministry of Finance and other key stakeholders to negotiate a sound economic reform programme supported by the IMF, to stabilise and transform our economy.
“We at the Bank of Ghana are confident about the outlook for our economy. The current high inflation and cedi depreciation are temporary, and we must avoid speculative behaviour that only works against attaining stability sooner,” Mrs Addo Awadzi stated.
Some forex bureaus are selling the local currency between ¢12.50 and ¢12.95 as of Wednesday October 19.
The BoG recently identified five key reasons for the woes of the local currency.
They were “The strength of the US dollar, Investor reaction to Credit Rating Downgrade, Non-Roll over of Maturing Bonds, The sharp rise in crude oil prices and impact on the Oil Bill, Loss of External Financing.”