BoG must stop printing money to finance government spending – Ato Forson

A ranking Member of Parliament's Finance Committee, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, has cautioned the government against printing money to finance its expenditure. He said the act, known as monetary financing, was detrimental to the government's attempt to fight inflation. Speaking at a public lecture dubbed "Building the Ghana we want," he noted that the Bank of Ghana should prioritise the fight against inflation. According to him, "Curbing inflation should be the top priority: Ghana does not want inflation to be entrenched, we need to confront inflation now before it becomes too late. The Bank of Ghana needs to anchor inflation expectations immediately. They should stop the printing of money, otherwise known as monetary financing, to finance government expenditure." Ato Forson charged the Bank of Ghana to institute an emergency monetary policy committee to consider hiking the monetary policy rate as a signal for investor confidence. "To stem the rapid depreciation of our cedi, the Bank of Ghana may have to call for an emergency monetary policy committee meeting and consider the need to hike the monetary policy rate, even if it is for purposes of signalling that somebody is in charge," he said. "Government must prioritise and rationalise expenditure by cutting all unnecessary and frivolous expenditures, whiles considering the extension of support to the poor and the vulnerable in the country, "since the economic hardship is affecting them the most," he added. Watch the latest episode of BizTech below: SSD/FNOQ