The Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr. Ernest Addison, has stated that he will not resign in response to calls from the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the Minority caucus in Parliament. He dismissed the demands for his resignation as “completely unnecessary.”
Dr. Addison, in an interview with the international business news website Central Banking, expressed his view that the Minority in Parliament has other channels to voice their grievances in a civilized society and should not resort to street demonstrations like the #OccupyBoGProtest.
“The Minority in Parliament has many channels to channel their grievances in a civilised society, not through demonstrations on the streets as hooligans,” Addison added in reference to the #OccupyBoGProtest.
The protest was organized to criticize what the protesters saw as an economic crisis caused by what they deemed poor fiscal policy by the Bank of Ghana.
Dr. Addison also refuted the claims made by the Minority that he had printed money to finance the lavish lifestyle of the ruling government. He explained that the BoG provided monetary financing in 2020 and 2022 to address specific crises, which he stated was legal under Central Bank law.
The Bank of Ghana reported losses totaling GHC60.81 billion for the 2022 financial year, in contrast to a profit of GHC1.23 billion recorded in 2021. These losses were attributed to the government’s domestic debt restructuring activities and the depreciation of the cedi, among other factors.
Regarding the losses in 2022, Dr. Addison clarified that the impairment of the bank’s holdings of debt, which led to the losses, was a conditionality for the IMF program, and no debt was forgiven by the Bank of Ghana.
Furthermore, he explained that the decision to construct a new headquarters for the BoG was made in 2019, when the bank was profitable, and funds from its profits were allocated for the project. It was not a decision made during a crisis.