Dr Abdul Nasir Issahaku, BoG Governor
The Bank of Ghana (BoG) says the local currency will continue to make gains against the major foreign currencies.
Dr Abdul Nasir Issahaku, Governor of the Central Bank, who was addressing the media in Accra on Monday at the Monetary Policy Committee’s 75th press conference, said the depreciation of the Ghana cedi against the dollar recently was mainly as a result of international currency realignments (strengthening dollar); seasonal demand factors, election related uncertainty and speculative activities and Treasury Bill auction rates, which were determined purely by the public sector borrowing requirements.
“The Ghana cedi came under some pressure due to the strengthening of the US dollar, seasonal demand pressures and speculative activities but has since recovered,” he stated.
Explaining further, Dr Issahaku said the monetary policy stance remained tight and along with the renewed confidence as a result of the clarity in policy direction by the government which should support the currency.
He said that could attract foreign investors into both the primary and secondary markets, adding that many holders of forex were currently offloading onto the market.
He said his outfit was exploring other measures and would encourage banks to pay higher interest on FX deposits.
“As long as regulatory and compliance issues are not bridged, both firms and individuals are encouraged to undertake legitimate businesses that should inure to the benefit of the country as a whole.”
Touching on the contribution of the agriculture sector, which contributed 3.6 percent of GDP [or GHS6.1 billion] in 2016, he said an improvement in production in this sector was likely to lower food prices and bring headline inflation down this year.
By Samuel Boadi samuel10gh@yahoo.com