The Member of Parliament for Ketu North, Hon. Edem Agbana, has dismissed suggestions from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) that the current stability of the cedi is a result of reduced government spending.
According to him, these claims not only show a misunderstanding of prudent economic management by critics but also reflect a political culture used to fiscal recklessness.
“The propaganda around the spending is because the NPP and their allies have been so accustomed to reckless spending that fiscal discipline, responsible spending, looks like no spending to them”
Hon. Edem Agbana, Member of Parliament for Ketu North
Speaking on the recent appreciation of the Ghana cedi, Hon. Agbana argued that the “fundamentals of the economy,” under President John Dramani Mahama’s administration are strong, and the gains made by the currency are driven by “strategic policy interventions,” rather than artificial controls or austerity.
He said that the governing party has never claimed to have “arrested the dollar” or handed its keys to the Inspector General of Police, in a populist gesture like the previous administration did.
Rather, what the public is witnessing is the outcome of sound fiscal coordination between key players in the financial sector, including Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) Dr. Johnson Asiamah, and CEO of GoldBod Sammy Gyamfi.
Strong Currency, Strong Leadership
The MP pointed out that the appreciation of the Ghana cedi is not mirrored across other African currencies, which he said is evidence that the gains are not artificial. “If it were artificial, why are other currencies not recording the same gains?” he asked.
Hon. Agbana argued that the current trend reflects effective economic management and leadership under the Mahama administration.
According to him, if the standard set by Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia – who once said, “When the fundamentals are weak, the exchange rate will expose you” – is to be applied, then the evidence points clearly to strong fundamentals under the current government.
“The exchange rates are portraying President Mahama and Dr. Ato Forson as the best managers of the economy, maybe in this fourth republic”
Hon. Edem Agbana, Member of Parliament for Ketu North
He said the country has moved past the era of “speculative pressure” on its currency and entered a phase of sustained economic calm, attributing this to structural interventions and enforcement measures.
Policy and Prudence Over Propaganda
The opposition NPP has tried to claim that exchange rate figures from the Bank of Ghana do not reflect market realities, alleging that the official rate of 10.3 or 10.4 cedis to the dollar contrasts with an actual rate of 13 in the open market. But Hon. Agbana dismissed this as “baseless and politically motivated.”
He credited recent mechanisms put in place by the Bank of Ghana for limiting abusive practices in the foreign exchange market.
For instance, he said the central bank now requires documentation before granting access to large volumes of foreign exchange, a measure designed to curb illicit use of the financial system for activities like money laundering.
“Today the bank is asking that you just provide evidence and you will get the dollars,” Hon. Agbana explained. He revealed that last week alone, over 60 billion cedis was made available to the market by the Bank of Ghana.
However, banks could not absorb the entire amount and had to return some, indicating reduced speculative demand and a more balanced market.
Contrary to NPP claims that the cedi’s appreciation is linked to a freeze in public spending, Hon. Agbana insisted that government expenditure has continued under President Mahama since his inauguration on January 7.
He noted that although major projects such as the Mahama Trust and the infrastructure group are only now gathering momentum, the administration has been active in deploying resources.
The notion that spending has been halted, he claimed, is part of a calculated campaign by the opposition to downplay the successes of the current government.
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