Dr Mahamudu Bawumia the former vice president has claimed that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) cannot point out one policy behind the appreciation of the cedi.
The former NPP presidential candidate for the 2024 election rejected ideas that the NDC deserves any credit for the recent gains of the cedi.
According to Dr Bawumia, the Mahama-led NDC government has not implemented a policy that could have contributed to the currency’s performance.
Speaking during an interaction with the Young Executive Forum (YEF) in London, Dr Bawumia detailed, “If you are to ask the NDC to point out exactly what policy they have implemented that has resulted in the appreciation of the cedi.
They cannot tell you one that has been implemented, not sort of talked about but actually implemented. They cannot tell you one such policy. They only passed their budget in March. They’ve not even issued any contracts and paid for anything, pretty much.
So you cannot ascribe what is happening to the currency to a policy that they have implemented. There’s no such policy that has been implemented that has had that impact yet,” he said.
Dr Bawumia further revealed that the NPP anticipated the impact of gold on the Ghanaian economy, he added, “For me, we had anticipated the impact of gold on this economy. I talked about it when we got into dire straits in 2022, and I said that when you look at Ghana being the largest gold producer in Africa, our reserves of gold at that time was 8.7 tons.
You look at the US, they have 8000 tons, and the UK has over 2000 tons. Same with France, and so it gives confidence in your currency. You don’t need to export to get gold, you need to export cocoa to get foreign exchange, timber, oil, you need to turn it abroad. But as for gold, you just need to dig it or pay for it with cedis. So it was a much easier way to do it.”
He added, “The US dollar itself is on the decline globally, and that has also strengthened. If you go to Zambia, for example, the Kwacha has gained a lot of ground also because you have the US dollar declining in value.”
“They are not spending. If you are managing an economy, you have to pay your bills. They are not paying IPPs, for example. This is why the dumsor is so acute, and they are not paying contractors. When you are not spending, there is less pressure on your currency.”
Meanwhile, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson the finance minister has boldly revealed that the activities of the Goldbod will further strengthen the Cedi’s performance.
