Home Of Ghana News Ghana News, Entertainment And More
Justin Frimpong Kodua, the General Secretary of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), has stated that the NPP has competent men to stabilize the Ghanaian cedi.
He said the NPP is not bereft of the competence needed to tackle the problems associated with the cedi against major trading currencies.
The NPP General Secretary, therefore, urged Ghanaians to exercise patience as the government continues to work tirelessly to stem the tide as far as the exchange rate is concerned.
The cedi has witnessed a rapid depreciation and currently trading at nearly GHC15.00 to the US dollar.
Speaking on Accra-base Peace FM on Monday, Mr Kodua acknowledged the cedi’s depreciation but expressed confidence in the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia government’s ability to improve the local currency’s value against the US dollar.
“When the Cedi started depreciating last year, we were able to put measures in place to stabilise it. Even though it has started depreciating again, I can assure you that we have the competent men to deal with it,” Kodua noted.
Despite Kodua’s assurances, businesses continue to bear the brunt of the cedi depreciation. The president of the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), speaking to TV3 in May, revealed that members have lost about 20 percent of their capital due to the cedi’s rapid depreciation.
Meanwhile, Minister for Finance Dr Mohammed Amin Adam has asserted that the Ghanaian cedi has witnessed a cumulative depreciation rate of 14.2 percent as of May 20 compared to 27 percent recorded in the same period of 2023.
This, according to him, suggests that the cedi has been largely stabilised, emphasising that the local currency is still very strong against major trading currencies like the US dollar.
He indicated that the cedi depreciation of 22.7 recorded as of the end of 2023 was about half of the 54.2 percent recorded at the end of 2022.
Dr Amin Adam made the remarks at his monthly press briefing on the economy, on Friday, May 24, 2024.
“But for recent pressures we are seeing on exchange rate movements, the exchange rate has been largely stabilised with the depreciation of the cedi against the US Dollar halving from 54.2% at the end of Nov 2022 to 27.8% at the end of Dec 2023.
“The Cedi’s stability has continued into 2024, with a cumulative depreciation of 14.2% as of 20th May 2024, compared to 20.7% recorded in the same period in 2023. So on that comparative basis we are safe to conclude that the cedi is still strong, very strong,” he emphasised.
Source: TV3News.com
