The Minority in Parliament has bemoaned the rate of the cedi’s rapid decline and has called on the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia to prioritize stabilizing the currency instead of focusing on campaigning and dancing.
On May 15, 2024, speaking to the parliamentary press corp at a press conference in Parliament, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, the Minority Leader expressed concern about how the declining value of the Cedi is hurting businesses in key commercial areas like Okaishie, Abossey Okai, Kejetia, among others.
Dr. Ato Forson blamed Dr. Bawumia for not fixing the cedi’s falling value as head of the Economic Management Team.
According to him, the cedi’s value has dropped to GH₵15 against a dollar, making things more expensive as traders pass on the incurred cost to final consumers.
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Dr. Ato Forson warned that the Cedi’s decline is hurting businesses and urgent action is needed to fix the situation. He also called on Ghanaians to demand accountability from Dr. Bawumia, the head of the Economic Management Team, for his performance.
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The Minority Caucus expressed concerns that despite getting financial support from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as part of the bailout program, the economy is still on its knees.
“In spite of the huge inflows of foreign exchange from the IMF and the World Bank, into the Ghanaian economy, and I’m talking of billions of Ghana cedis, billions of US dollars, the government’s action and its management of the cedi have continued to fuel steep depreciation with no end in sight unfortunately,” he said.
The Member of Parliament further said Vice President Alhaji Bawumia’s leadership of the Economic Management Team has been disappointing, with their economic decisions falling short of expectations.
“So far, the decisions of the Economic Management Team, chaired by our Vice President Alhaji Bawumia leaves a lot to be desired. The reality of the Ghanaian economy today exposes the credentials of the so-called economic whizkid who was marketed as the saviour of Ghana’s economy, Alhaji Bawumia’s credibility is now tattered,” he added.
He also asked the Vice President to pause dancing around and focus on fixing the economy.
“I want to use this opportunity to urge the Vice President to quit his off-beat dancing on the campaign trail and focus on the dancing cedi. There’s a lot awaiting our country as a result of reckless mismanagement by Alhaji Bawumia’s government,” Dr Ato Forson said.
On May 14, 2024, The Accra Times reported a similar concern by the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) on how the depreciation of the cedi is making it increasingly difficult for businesses to stay afloat especially those who import from Asia, repayment of loans to banks, freight charges among others.
However commenting on the fall of the cedi on a campaign tour, Dr. Bawumia claimed that the fall of the cedi is slow as compared to the era of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) seven years ago.
