President Nana Akufo-Addo has stated the recent turbulence on the financial markets was caused by low inflows of exchange and further observed the situation got worse in the last two to three weeks by the activities of speculators and the Black Market.
“An anonymous two-minute audio message on a WhatsApp platform predicting a so-called haircut on Government bonds sent all of us into banks and forex bureaus to dump our cedis, and, before we knew it, the cedi had depreciated further.
He continued, “All of us can play a part in helping to strengthen the cedi by having confidence in the currency, and avoiding speculation. Let us keep our cedi as the good store of value it is. To those who make it a habit of publishing falsehoods, which result in panic in the system, I say to them that the relevant state agencies will act against such persons.”
In view of this, Nana Akufo-Addo on Sunday, October 30, during a televised broadcast on the state of the economy said some steps have been taken to restore order in the forex markets which he posited the government has begun to see some calmness returning and therefore will not relent on its horses’ until order is completely restored.
The President indicated the government will among other measures enhanced supervisory action by the Bank of Ghana in the forex bureau markets and the black market to flush out illegal operators, as well as ensuring that those permitted to operate legally abide by the market rules.
In addition, fresh inflows of dollars are providing liquidity to the foreign exchange market, and addressing the pipeline demand.
The Bank of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo intimated will enhance its gold purchase programme and that the Government was also working with the Central Bank and the oil producing and mining companies to introduce a new legal and regulatory framework to ensure that all foreign exchange earned from operations in Ghana are, initially, paid to banks domiciled in Ghana to help boost the domestic foreign exchange market.
“I am confident that these immediate measures designed to change the structure of our balance of payment flows, sanitise the foreign exchange market to ensure that the banks and forex bureaus operate along international best practices, together with strengthened supervision, will go a long way to sanitize our foreign exchange market, and make it more resilient against external vulnerabilities going forward” Nana opined.
