The Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia says the government has been able to arrest the free fall of the cedi in its first hundred days in office.
[contextly_sidebar id=”93SzqFg5DjM0o2kwoqOjk3nq6gaIBzAM”]According to him, the interventions embarked on by the NPP administration have helped to restore value in the cedi compared to what was bequeathed to them by the erstwhile NDC administration.
“For the year, the cedi has appreciated in value. When we came in, it was running…essentially we have arrested it,” Dr. Bawumia asserted when he addressed a gathering to mark one hundred days in office by the NPP on Monday.
The comments by the Vice President come at a time that the cedi is experiencing relative stability compared to major international trading currencies such as the dollar.
For the first two months of 2017, the local currency witnessed significant depreciation on the interbank foreign exchange market and across forex bureaus in the country.
The development lingered despite the Bank of Ghana’s 120 million dollars auction to support the supply of the dollar.
Dr. Bawumia who also heads the government’s economic management team further touted his government’s commitment to improving economic stability.
He explained that the NPP has within the first hundred days increased Ghana’s total foreign reserve from about 6 to 8 billion dollars which corroborates the confidence of investors in the country’s economic prospects.
“From independence to the end of 2016, Ghana’s total foreign reserves were some 6 billion dollars. In less than hundred days, we have increased those reserves from 6 to 8 billion dollars…this is the achievement and with that we have a lot more confidence in the economy.”
Even though Dr. Bawumia explained that the NPP’s manifesto was based on a four year plan and not a hundred days one, he was hopeful of the impact of some strides made in the economy.
These include the numerous tax cuts, reduced inflation plus the recently issued four local bonds that yielded 2.25 billion dollars.
He observed that the move will among others lengthen the debt profile of the country without adding any additional burden to the increasing debt stock at the hand of the government.
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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana