The Minority Leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, has contended that the government’s financial decisions are significantly exacerbating the rapid depreciation of the Cedi.
Both the business community and trade unions have voiced myriad concerns about the steep decline of the Cedi against the US dollar, with recent rates hovering around GH¢15 to $1 as of Thursday, May 16.
During a press conference on Wednesday, May 15, the Minority Caucus revealed that the government disbursed an excess of GH¢7 billion to contractors outside the 2024 budget. They allege that this amount was utilized to purchase dollars, further weakening the Cedi.
In conversation with Bernard Avle on the Citi Breakfast Show aired on Citi FM, the Minority Leader emphasized that the government’s actions have led to a Cedi depreciation of over 70% since July 2022.
“Since 2022, the Cedi has depreciated more than 70% and the current problem is primarily a result of how the government is spending.
“In the last month, the government has borrowed over GH¢7 billion from the T-bill market and used this money to pay contractors who have also purchased dollars hoping that the Cedi will depreciate and so even if you go to the market to buy dollars, you struggle to get it and this is because people lack confidence in the economy.”
“The Ministry of Finance is approving these payments, and the contractors are using it to buy dollars and it is easy to track this. Unless you are not watching the fiscal space, you will see that these monies are used to buy dollars.
“My concern is that it is coming at a time when we have defaulted on our external debts, and since we have defaulted on it, one would have thought we should be seeing a lot of forex, but that is not the case,” Dr. Forson added.