Government’s reason for acquiring $2.25bn bond wrong – Economic analyst

Economic analyst, Joe Jackson says he disagrees with the government’s defence regarding the recent 2.25 billion dollar bond.

Minority Members of Parliament have called for a parliamentary inquiry into how some persons they refer to as very close friends of the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, purchased 95 percent of the bond.

The minority insists the bond was signed for personal interest and shrouded in secrecy and also had no parliamentary approval.

These have been denied by government, with Vice President Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia describing the minority’s position as ignorant.

But speaking on TV3, 3FM Saturday edition of New Day, Joe Jackson says the idea, “popping up the cedi as the basis for the bond was wrong.”

He added, ‘‘First of all, let’s put this in perspective. The bond itself is not a huge sum looking at the size of the economy so we could debate whether the bond is good or not but my personal opinion is that the cedi shouldn’t be popped up. I know it’s a controversial opinion but I don’t think so.

“Some of the good things they talk about regarding the bond, I disagree with. I disagree with because fundamentally, farmers in the north are unable to sell their produce because of the cheap imports. Allow the cedi to slide to a point where it is not cheaper to bring the imports so that the farmer can sell their produce in Ghana. So as much as I can appreciate what the minister of finance is saying about the bond, my point is that anytime I hear people say that lets pop up the Cedis I say this is a wrong direction. Short term or long term’’.