The performance of the Cedi against the US Dollar under President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is the best since 2012, Minister of Finance Ken Ofori-Atta has stated.
He said the year-on-year depreciation of the local currency against the Dollar was 4.9 per cent in 2017.
And this, he further broke down, compares to 9.7 per cent in 2016, 15.7 per cent in 2015, 31.3 per cent in 2014 and 17.5 per cent in 2013.
He said from the figure recorded so far, the Cedi is on a path to a strong performance under the Akufo-Addo-led government, better than the four years of John Dramani Mahama.
“The 2018 performance of the Ghana Cedi is likely to be better than the 4.9 percent we experienced [in 2017], which is better than the all-time low of the four years of [former] President John Dramani Mahama.”
The percentage is 2.4 in the first six months of 2018, the Minister of Finance revealed.
Mr Ofori-Atta said these on the floor of Parliament on Thursday while delivering the mid-year budget review of 2018.
The Finance Minister was in Parliament in accordance with Section 28 of the Public Financial Management Act of 2016, Act 921.
In his review, Mr Ofori-Atta introduced new taxes including the luxury vehicle tax but stressed that the Value Added Tax (VAT) will not be increased contrary to widespread reports.
But he was happy with the relative stability of the Cedi under the current government.
“The Ghana Cedi remained relatively stable both on the interbank and forex largely due to improved macroeconomic conditions.”
He cited that in the first five months of 2018 the local currency has appreciated by 0.2 per cent.
By Emmanuel Kwame Amoh|3news.com|Ghana