New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for New Juaben South is asking President John Mahama to sack the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Henry Kofi Wampah for presiding over the continues depreciation of the Cedi.
The MP, Dr. Mark Assibey Yeboah argues that the “incompetence” of Henry Kofi Wampah has resulted in the fast decline of the cedi.
[contextly_sidebar id=”3FjYig0ZrLGZ2GLXc09yF8tQCXsHLepG”]The cedi currently stands at 4 cedi 35 pesewes against the dollar and may get worse according to some economists.
Speaking to Citi News Dr. Mark Assibey Yeboah who is a Member of Parliament’s Finance Committee insisted that the Governor of the Bank of Ghana should be kicked out.
“The economy is in crisis, the currency is exchanging at 4.35 to the dollar. Let’s tackle all the sectors of the economy. Trade policy is under the Minister of Trade, fiscal policy is under the Ministry of Finance, monetary policy is under the Central Bank.”
“We have to tackle the Central Bank and the Governor. So if by tomorrow for lack of confidence in the governor the currency depreciates to 5 cedis, 6 cedis, we still keep the governor? We have to force the governor out,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, a private legal practitioner, Dr John Ephraim Baiden has sued the Bank of Ghana over the depreciation of the cedi.
The lawyer is praying the Supreme Court to order the bank to put in measures to provide a stable currency.
Before Mr Baiden filed the case in 2014, the Cedi had depreciated by about 40% against the dollar and other major currencies, a situation which forced traders to increase prices of goods and services, thus increasing the cost of living for Ghanaians.
The Bank of Ghana in thus issued some directives to halt the free fall of the cedi but yielded little or no results.
The Bank revised the rules governing the operations of Foreign Exchange Accounts (FEA) and Foreign Currency Accounts (FCA).
Banks were ordered not to grant a foreign currency denominated loan or foreign currency linked facility to a customer who is not a foreign exchange earner.
All exporters were also urged to collect and repatriate in full, the proceeds of their exports to their local banks within 60 days of shipment.
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By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana