The Minister of Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, has noted that he would not claim he has “arrested” the cedi despite its impressive run in the last few months.
He said; “I can’t say I have arrested the cedi. The cedi has appreciated, that is what I can say. I’m not a policeman.”
According to him, he would not use the words of the former Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.
This comes after the minister’s presentation of the 2025 Mid-Year Budget Review on July 24, 2025.
Ato Forson noted that the past administration was fiscally reckless, printing money indiscriminately till it caused hyperinflation.
“So, first of all, let me name one policy. Number one, they [Akufo-Addo administration] were indisciplined. We are disciplined. That is the bottom line. They were spending recklessly when the Central Bank was printing money as if there was no tomorrow.
“At one point, they printed until inflation reached 54%. You know, when that happens, you deplete your reserves. It is not happening now. The Central Bank is not printing. The government of Ghana has been disciplined. The fiscal consolidation is happening. So, why won’t you build reserves?” he was quoted by myjoyonline.com to have said.
Ato Forson took a swipe at Dr Bawumia, noting that despite portraying himself as an economic messiah, he couldn’t save the economy even though he had eight years in office.
“If, for example, he knows that he could do this, why didn’t he do it during the 8 years of office? He was there as Vice President and chairman of the economic management team.
“He was the chairman of the economic management team. Remember, he touted himself as the Messiah, and he said he was going to fix it. He had eight years in office, so, why couldn’t he do what we are doing? Dr Mahamudu Bawumia had eight years in office. There was a time he said that he had arrested the cedi. Why couldn’t he do it?” he added.
Ato Forson, however, insisted he would not claim to have arrested the cedi despite the 42.6% appreciation in the last 6 months.
“Let me say that I’m very focused. We want to ensure that we’ll end the year with the same level of appreciation. We want to make sure that this level of appreciation and the stability we are seeing is sustained. That is where my focus is,” he said.
SSD/AE
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