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General News of Thursday, 28 March 2019

Source: 3news.com

Government not to blame for Cedi depreciation – Kwame Pianim

International economist, Kwame Pianim International economist, Kwame Pianim

International economist Kwame Pianim has taken an unorthodox position regarding who is to blame for the weakening of the domestic currency on the international foreign exchange market.

According to the investment consultant, government must not be blamed for the depreciation of the Cedi.

“We should not blame government for Cedi depreciation,” he posited.

“We should blame the Governor of the Bank of Ghana because that is their job.”

He opines that government’s responsibility is to ensure that the general economy is doing well and that has a ripple effect on how the Cedi performs.

Mr Pianim shared these views at the second Economic Dialogue Series hosted by Media General.

Coming on the heels of the first edition, which was on Ponzi schemes, the second on Thursday, March 28 was finding solution to the erratic performance of the Cedi on the international forex market.

It was themed: ‘The Ghana Cedi: Breaking the Cycle of Depreciation’.

Mr Pianim, who was the first speaker, insisted that the performance of the Cedi signals the health of the Ghanaian economy.

Therefore, he considers a weak local currency as a symptom of a weak economy.

So for him, in finding a solution to the cyclical disposition of the Cedi, pragmatic efforts must rather go into making sure that the economy is buoyant.

“We have to treat the source and not the symptoms.”