If I were you holding onto dollars, I’ll be selling by now because a lot of dollars is coming in – Oppong Nkrumah
Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has said a lot of dollars is coming in to shore up the strength of the local currency, the Cedi
.
The Ofoase Ayirebi Lawmaker said the US$750 million Afreximbank loan and then from the cocoa US$1.3 billion syndicated loan that comes together like US$2 billion will be hitting the Ghanaian economy soon.
“External factors such as the repatriation of funds have led to a cedi that has depreciated very quickly, the Bank of Ghana introduced a raft of measures to deal with the depreciation of the cedi,” he said.
“I think this morning, the President was briefed that the US$750 million that we were expecting, now all the paperwork has been completed and should hit our account by Tuesday or Wednesday.
“So, if I were you and I was holding onto dollars, I will be selling by now because there is a lot of dollar coming in from the US$750 million and then from the cocoa US$1.3 billion syndicated loan that comes together like US$2 billion hitting the Ghanaian economy.
“We need to cut down on our import bills significantly. We are importing rice, chicken, fruit juices, there need to be clarity on what we need to do to reduce the importation, and those are some of the things that are being done,” he told Accra-based Asaase Radio on Tuesday.
Regarding the Cedi’s performance, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) in a statement called for calm as it has introduced measures to resolve the fall.
The BoG identified five key reasons for the woes of the local currency.
These are “The strength of the US dollar, Investor reaction to Credit Rating Downgrade, Non-Roll over of Maturing Bonds, The sharp rise in crude oil prices and impact on the Oil Bill, Loss of External Financing.”
The measures introduced to resolve these, according to the BoG, are the “Gold Purchase Program to increase foreign exchange reserves; Special Foreign Exchange Auction for the Bulk Distribution Company’s (BDCs) to help with the importation of petroleum products; Bank of Ghana is entering into a cooperation agreement with the mining companies to provide BOG with the opportunity to buy gold as when it becomes available.
“The Bank of Ghana is supporting the banking sector with foreign currency liquidity to help meet the demand for external payments. The recently approved USD750,000,000 Afriexim loan facility by Parliament, once disbursed, will boost the foreign exchange position of the country and help restore confidence.
“The Cocoa Loan is expected in the last quarter of the year. This facility will also help provide more foreign currency to help address the cedi depreciation. In the short term, we expect that when the IMF programme is finalized, it will also go a long way to help restore confidence in the economy and drive portfolio flows.”
By Laud Nartey|3news.com|Ghana
READ ALSO: Mahama eulogises late Mion-Lana
Former President John Dramani Mahama has corroborated the widespread description of the late Mion-Lana, Abdulai Mahama IV, as a “Peacemaker.”
Addressing a high-powered delegation from the Dagbon Kingdom at his office in Accra on Tuesday, August 23, 2022, the former President remarked: “It was with his cooperation we managed to set a breakthrough in the Dagbon peace process. It is my hope that the peace that he engineered and helped to restore in Dagbon will be continued by his successor.”
“My government was committed to settling the Dagbon chieftaincy crisis. We built all the chiefs palaces but unfortunately, we lost power in 2016 and Nana Akufo-Addo continued.
“We are all happy that eventually the Dagbon crisis has been resolved. If Dagbon progresses, the whole of the north will prosper,” he added.
Mr Mahama recalled his last telephone conversation with the late Mion-Lana: “I spoke to him two days before he died.
“He said he hadn’t been well and was on admission at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital. I was in the Eastern Region, and I promised to visit him on my return.
“I was so shocked when I saw the breaking news on my phone that a prominent chief in Dagbon, the Mion-Lana had died. He used to call me his father. Allah knows best.”