The Council of State is dissatisfied with Ghana’s current economic situation.
Nana Otuo Siriboe II, the Council’s Chair and Omanhene of Asante Juaben, stated that as an advisory body to the government, it was critical that they meet with relevant stakeholders to discuss the best ways to address the challenges.
Speaking to the media after meeting with officials from the Finance Ministry and the Bank of Ghana, the traditional leader revealed that they had to break from their recess to take interest in the matter.
He stated that the Council and its members, like all Ghanaians, were concerned about the state of the economy, particularly the free fall of the cedi in relation to other major currencies.
The council called the meeting to receive an update on the measures being taken to halt the depreciation of the cedi.
He noted that there had been several assurances that things would improve.
He stated that there were expectations for foreign exchange inflows to shore up the country’s liquidity, allowing the government and the Bank of Ghana to pump in more dollars to help stabilise the cedi.
“We can’t just sleep; we are the advisors of the government and so we need to be informed to enable us to give the requisite advice and submissions to the government, and that is why we are shaving this meeting.”
We heard what the underlying causes were and they talked about the short, medium and we approve of those measures,” he added.
When asked if the Council; was happy about the state of the economy, he said ”we are not, and that is why we met them. And we have been assured that things will get better”.
He further revealed the Council would interact with the leadership of the Ghana Union of Traders (GUTA) over reasons they intend to embark on a ‘no shop day’ slated for Monday, August 29, 2022.
On his part, the Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance, Charles-Adu Boahen, urged Ghanaians to remain calm because the government was taking steps to stop the cedi’s depreciation.
He stated that the central bank is working to make more hard currencies available to importers and business owners in the refined products sector.
He added that the bank has entered into an agreement with mining companies within the oil and gas sector to buy their forex to help support BoG’s reserves.
”The currency depreciation is due to a host of issues, but the most important one is speculative activities that are creating some unnecessary depreciation of the currency, but we are taking steps to ensure that we can address some of the concerns.
We believe that all the measures put in place, together with the African Export-Import Bank’s $750 million loan, followed by Ghana Cocoa Board’s (COCOBOD’s) $1.3 billion syndicated loan facility for the 2020/2021 cocoa crop season, will help shore up the currency and stabilise it.”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
