‎The Minister of Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson has strongly denied accusations from the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) criticised the Bank of Ghana for interfering too much in the foreign exchange market.
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‎Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express, Dr Forson said there is no such claim in any official IMF report.
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‎He challenged the NPP to provide proof, stating that after carefully reviewing the IMF staff report, he found no reference to what the NPP was claiming.
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‎"I combed through the IMF staff report, and I did not see any attribution to what they claimed the IMF had said. I did not see any attribution. And so, where is this coming from?” he asked.
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‎According to him, the claim that the IMF warned against the Bank of Ghana’s $1.4 billion intervention in the forex market is false and misleading.
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‎He pointed out that despite the intervention, the Bank of Ghana was still able to grow its foreign reserves significantly.
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‎He explained that under the IMF program, the target was to add $453 million to reserves, but the central bank managed to accrue about $2.2 billion far above the requirement.
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‎Dr Forson further explained that Ghana currently has enough reserves to cover 4.8 months of imports, and by the end of the year, that figure is expected to rise to over five months a clear sign of stability.
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‎He also defended the Gold for Reserves policy, saying it allows the Bank of Ghana, through the Ghana Gold Board, to buy and export gold in order to bring in foreign currency.
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‎According to him, it helps the central bank build its reserves and step in when necessary to support the economy.
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‎DR/MA

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