The Governor of the Bank of Ghana Ernest Addison has rejected calls on him to resign by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Minority in Parliament.
Hundreds of protesters hit the streets of Accra on Tuesday to denounce the economic crisis as a result of what they termed poor fiscal policy by the Bank of Ghana.
Led by the opposition National Democratic Congress, the protesters said the action of the central bank governor Addison has led to hyperinflation and high cost of living and want him and his two deputies to step aside.
However, responding to the Minority’s claims, Addison said he is not stepping down, describing the protest as needless.
“The demonstration yesterday was completely unnecessary,” Addison said, adding that neither he nor his deputies intend to step down.
“The Minority in parliament have many channels to channel their grievances in civilised societies, not through demonstrations in the streets as hooligans,” Addison added in reference to the #OccupyBoGProtest.
Heavily guarded by riot police, the demonstrators accused the head of the treasury of overprinting money to fund the government’s alleged profligacy that has led to economic hardship.
“This Akufo-Addo government, together with the governor, haven’t been fair to Ghanaians,” said Cassiel Ato Forson, the Minority leader in parliament. “In fact, Governor Addison printed for Akufo-Addo for them to live a champagne lifestyle. We can’t continue this way. Ghanaians are struggling and finding it difficult to survive. Some are struggling to eat three times in a day. We want this government out.”
Addison rejected the claims, adding that the Bank of Ghana provided monetary financing during 2020 and 2022, to meet specific crises. This is legal under the central bank law, he adds.
The bank posted losses totalling GHC60.81 billion for the 2022 financial year as against profit of GHC1.23 billion recorded in 2021. The losses were a result of the government’s domestic debt restructuring activities and the depreciation of the cedi, among other effects.
Regarding the central bank’s 2022 losses, Addison told London-based Central Banking: “The impairment of the bank’s holdings of debt which led to the losses was a conditionality for the IMF programme. Nobody at Bank of Ghana forgave any debt.”
The governor states the Bank of Ghana decided to start the new headquarters in 2019. This was “when the bank was profitable and appropriated some of its profits for the new headquarters,” he said. “It was not a decision taken during a crisis.”