‘The world’s worst performing currency’ is not a description managers of the country’s economy and the citizens at large would relish.
Bloomberg nonetheless said so and followers of the economic developments in the country were unsurprised because, after all the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the supporter of last resort, cautioned the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to halt the pumping of dollars into the economy.
The two cautions from the IMF alerted those who were unaware about what accounted for the superficial depreciating of the dollar against the Cedi.
The so-called depreciation of the dollar against the Cedi was artificial and intended to serve a propaganda cause. Unfortunately, when such negative interventions are done, the dividends are short-lived; the truth will out sooner than later, and it has.
When Finance Minister Ato Forson flexed his muscles and told the nation in Parliament that government’s intervention and prudent management of the economy has yielded a poignant dividend, he did so with a sense of propaganda.
He should have been measured in his excitement; a few months have elapsed since then, and there is dearth of the dollar in town.
Shouldn’t we be real about the real state of the national currency so the growth or otherwise can be verifiably observed?
We would wish for the country’s economic and social progress but would detest a situation where dust is thrown into the eyes of our vulnerable compatriots who have no access to the facts and data.
It is unfortunate that those at the helm who should be forthcoming with the facts and education necessary for the vulnerable to make informed decisions would prefer propaganda even when the reins of governance has been given to them.
Four years might seem long, but it does not take long for day to give way to night, and soon Ghanaians would have the opportunity to give their verdict about the stewardship of those at the throttles of state.
To claim superiority in the management of the economy or the possession of a special acumen, hence the so-called strengthening of the Cedi against the dollar as a means of mocking the previous government is unfortunate and smacks of hypocrisy and denial of the important blocks laid earlier.
Information gathered suggest that the pumping of more dollars into the economy is being considered. We would pose the question once more: for how long shall we continue to be in this fiscal circus?
These are interesting times and would continue to be so for perhaps the lifespan of the current government unless they wean themselves from the campaign trail propaganda. This is not the time for blending the truth with lies. All we need now is productive statecraft so the country can move forward.