The Governor of
the Bank of Ghana (BoG) Dr. Ernest Addison has debunked allegations
by the Minority in Parliament that it has printed a whopping GH¢22 billion new
cash for the government.
The Member of
Parliament for Ajumako-Enyan-Esiam, Dr. Casiel Ato Forson, who is the Minority
leader alleged that the Governor of the central bank printed money for the
nation without approval from Parliament.
According to
him, the Central Bank has perpetuated an illegality that has to be handled.
But responding
to the allegations, Dr. Addison said the central bank has enough cash sitting
in its vault.
Speaking at the
111th Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) press conference in Accra on Monday,
March 27, 2023, he stated that "First and foremost, Bank of Ghana’s
forecast for currency printing does not include government financing needs, we
make an estimate of the GDP for the year, a major factor in that is the cocoa
production forecast. So that is what goes into forecasting currency printing
requirements.
"If you go
to the Bank's office at Spintex Road we have our currency processing center
there, we have a vault full of Cedis so we don’t need to print money, we
already have cash sitting in our vault and release these resources as an when
the economy demands that.
"So the
impression that Bank of Ghana prints money to finance overdraft is completely
wrong, it is a mischievous way of presenting the issues."
Earlier, the
central bank justified its funding support to the 2022 budget presented by the
New Patriotic Party (NPP) government.
The BOG said the
support of ¢44.5 billion to the government avoided external and domestic debt
default in 2022.
In a statement
copied to the press, the Bank of Ghana said the support was for critical
imports to keep the economy on a stable path.
source: Pulse.com.gh
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