Mahama Ayariga the majority leader and leader of Government Business has said the recent cedi appreciation under the NDC government is putting money back into the pockets of Ghanaians.
The majority leader on the floor of parliament boldly touted the achievements of the John Mahama-led NDC government.
The majority leader noted that the NDC has engineered one of the strongest currency rebounds in recent history.
According to him, the cedi’s strength is putting money back into people’s pockets through transport fare reduction and the reduction of prices for imported food products.
Speaking on the floor of parliament, Mahama Ayariga detailed, “Mr Speaker, this House must support our indefatigable Finance Minister… to continue along the lines of fiscal prudence and his dogged pursuit of appreciating the Ghana Cedi, reducing inflation and prices, reducing interest rates and revitalizing our private sector, renewing hope in the Ghanaian.
“We have engineered one of the strongest currency rebounds in recent financial history. The cedi’s strength is putting money back in people’s pockets through transport fare reductions, and reduced prices of imported food products,” he added.
He further stated, “Mr Speaker, there is also a 14.1per cent strengthening versus the Euro, a significant reduction in fuel prices: Super XP: GH₵15.85 to GH₵13.27 (16.28 per cent decrease),
Diesel XP: GH₵15.99 to GH₵13.87 (13.26 per cent decrease), Super XP 95: GH₵15.96 to GH₵15.27 (4.32 per cent decrease) and transport fare reductions across major routes,” the majority leader detailed.
Meanwhile, President John Dramani Mahama has stated that the Bank of Ghana will intervene if the exchange rate falls below a certain threshold.
Mahama noted that some people are saying the cedi will come to GHS1 to $1. But according to him that will be extreme and will collapse Ghana’s exports.
According to John Mahama, the Bank of Ghana will intervene if the exchange rate falls below a certain threshold to keep it within an acceptable range.
Engaging some stakeholders on the implementation of the policy in Accra John Mahama stated, “The cedi recently has appreciated in value it is the result of close coordination between fiscal and monitoring between the Central and the Ministry of Finance and it is based on the Forex auction and demand and supply.
It is not like somebody is forcing the dollar down it is as a result of finding the true value of the cedi and I believe it will arrest where the true value is based on the issues of demand and supply”.
He added, “Some People say it will come to GHS1 to $1. No, that’s extreme. We’ll eventually collapse our export sector if that happens. The governor of the Bank has an eye on it and if it goes below a certain floor I am sure the Bank of Ghana will make an intervention to make sure it remains within a certain band that give the true value of the cedi against the other foreign currencies.
So don’t panic if you haven’t changed your dollars already I don’t know how much further lower it will go but the governor has an eye on it and we will see how things go”, John Mahama added.
