The Finance Minister, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, has criticised the Member of Parliament for Bolgatanga Central, Isaac Adongo, for allegedly encouraging people to purchase dollars for their business operations.
He says the act is an attempt by the Member of Parliament to undermine the Ghana Cedi and cause further depreciation.
At a press conference on Monday, July 01, 2024, the Minister who also serves as the Karaga Member of Parliament, described his colleague and friend’s actions as inappropriate.
He claimed that Mr Adongo’s comments were intentionally made to incite negative sentiments against the recent appreciation of the local currency.
But the Ranking Member on the Finance Committee says the government’s Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) and collapse of the bond market has made people lose confidence in the cedi and resorted to using the dollar and pound as store of value.
“One of the key sources of investment in our country has been investing in the Government of Ghana (GoG) bond. People put their money in the GoG bond, you came and gave DDEP, in your own budget, you indicated that investors have lost GHC60billion. So now, if you have money, instead of putting them in the GoG bond, you are putting them in dollars as a store of value and you expect the cedi to be stronger?
“Don’t you know that your DDEP and your collapsing of the bond market is partly to blame for people now resorting to the dollar and the pound sterling as a store of value,” he said on Ghana Tonight on TV3 Monday, July 01, 2024.
