Wampah to step down as BoG governor

There are reports that the Governor of the Bank of Ghana could step down on Thursday, March 31.

Dr Wampah, who recently faced a barrage of criticism over alleged poor supervision of microfinance companies, has informed President John Mahama of his intention to step down, Reuters news agency reported on Tuesday.

"I told the President I wanted to leave office early and we have agreed that I will exit at the end of March," Reuters quoted Dr Wampah as saying.

One of Dr Wampah’s two deputies, Millison Narh or Abdul Nashiru Issahaku is expected to take over on an interim basis until a substantive governor is appointed.

Dr Henry Kofi Wampah for some time now has been criticized over his approach in managing a number of issues in the sector he regulates.

In February 2014 he introduced a number of forex rules and policies to save the cedi from further depreciation – a move which was heavily criticized by industry watchers.

The cedi took a nose dive against major trading currencies in 2014 and was tagged one of the worst performing currencies on the African continent.

The central bank in its bid to shore up the value of the cedi at the time banned the withdrawals of more than US$10,000 without proof of travel over the counter. It also banned commercial banks and other financial houses from issuing cheques and cheque books on Foreign Exchange Accounts (FEA) and Foreign Currency Accounts (FCA).

It also directed that banks in the country should not grant a foreign currency-denominated loan or foreign currency-linked facility to a customer who is not a foreign exchange earner. But a few months later, the central bank announced it was withdrawing the rules following consultations with stakeholders.

Profile

Dr Wampah who holds a PhD in Economics from McGill University, Montreal, Canada, rose through the ranks to become the boss of the Central Bank in 2013. He was confirmed as governor of the Central Bank in 2013.

A year earlier, he had acted as governor after his immediate boss Kwesi Amissah-Arthur was confirmed by Parliament as Vice President of Ghana.