Social activist, Bernard Mornah, has criticized the Bank of Ghana’s Governor, Dr Ernest Addison, for running down the country, insisting he has been incompetent.
According to him, there cannot be justification for Dr Addison to stay in office when inflation is hovering over 40% and depreciation of the currency is almost GH11.6 to a dollar. This, he noted, could constitute the basis upon which a governor that actually has any “integrity” should go.
Justifying his stance, Mr Mornah stated that beyond that, some 900 workers of National Investment Bank may suffer job losses simply because the bank is having liquidity challenges. He explained that the Bank of Ghana which is supposed to serve as the lender of last resort, especially in crisis of this magnitude, has failed to lend any help.
“So, why would the governor not support the bank to be on its feet in the hope that government despite the fact that they owe, government will certainly pay and NIB will be resuscitated. We are going to suffer job losses. Such a person is not competent to be a governor in any jurisdiction.”
Bernard Mornah
Furthermore, Mr Mornah revealed that because the Bank of Ghana itself is buried in losses and trying to overcome its difficulties, it cannot wholly act as a lender of last resort in this “monumental crisis” other banks find themselves in.
He indicated that the BoG is aware that NIB is owed by persons related and closer to President Akufo-Addo and his government. As such, he stated that if government pays some of the contractors who have borrowed from NIB to carry out goverment projects, they will in turn make good their indebtedness to NIB, which will be solvent enough to be able to function.
Elaborating further on the reasons for the BoG governor to step aside, he revealed that if the BoG records a negative equity of GH55 billion, what that simply indicates is that the governor has run down its reserves and the country’s finances are in the negative.
By implication, he highlighted that the governor’s only alternative in situations of such financial difficulties is to print more money.
“When you print more money, it means that you have lots of money chasing limited goods and services in your economy that will lead to further inflation…”
Bernard Mornah
Government spokesperson vouches for government’s credibility
On his part, Government’s spokesperson on governance and security, Palgrave Boakye-Danquah, criticized the minority’s decision to embark on the OccupyBoG protest.
He noted that although the NDC side of the minority had a demonstration which was guided by the Ghana Police Service and was an “incident-free demonstration”, it was needless.
“I think that they should pause and observe that in the moment of governance is that a call for a step-aside of the governor who has managed the policy very well is not needed at this stage in the trajectory of the turnaround of the economy. The NDC has laid out its claims, Bank of Ghana has brought a report out, which is very clear and very confident to assure the Ghanaian people that this administration has been extremely credible.”
Palgrave Boakye-Danquah
Without mincing words, Mr Boakye-Danquah insisted that the BoG financial conditions does not necessarily impact on its operations. He stated that the minority yesterday, made a statement on the zero financing of government from 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021.
To this, the government spokesperson emphasized that government also made a statement of the fact that the BoG provided financing only to government during the pandemic which was global.
“We also stated that every single act of what Bank of Ghana has done was within the applicable laws of Ghana. I have been very concerned with the position of the NDC side of parliament because Central Banks are not commercial banks…”
Palgrave Boakye-Danquah
Moreover, Mr Boakye-Danquah maintained that there was no money that was lost by the Bank of Ghana in its operations in 2022. He opined that the Bank of Ghana always acted in good faith in the broader interest of the Ghanaian people, and equally made profits.
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