‘It is clear Ghana’s foreign exchange system is quite loose’ – Dr. Bawumia

Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia has acknowledged that Ghana’s foreign exchange system has been porous and thus requires tightening measures. According to him, the development has since contributed to the current economic woes in the country which is now seeking International Monetary Fund assistance. Speaking at the 2022 Digital Banking Innovation and Fintech Festival in Accra, Dr Bawumia said government will in due course present measures aimed at addressing the current shortfalls in the exchange rate system. “It is very clear that our foreign exchange regime is quite loose, and that is why we are going to see how we can tighten our foreign exchange regime. In broad terms, you cannot address the current economic situation without addressing the fiscal and debt sustainability, production and foreign exchange regime,” the Vice President admitted. He further said the exchange rate system in Ghana will require certain innovative measures to ensure it becomes sustainable. Touching on the ongoing IMF negotiations, the Vice President said once an agreement is reached, “it will be clear that it will not be, and it should not be business as usual because we have to adjust to the new global and domestic realities.” He said Ghana must begin to chart a path that places more focus on domestic production adding that the country has more trade surpluses and current account deficits “which means that a lot of the foreign exchange that we are earning from our trade doesn’t stay in Ghana.” To address this, Dr Bawumia said Ghana will focus on reducing its dependency on imports to contain forex exchange challenges. Meanwhile, the Ghana cedi has in the past few weeks experienced unprecedented depreciation against the US dollar. The currency has now been ranked by Bloomberg as the worst-performing currency in the world against the US dollar, overtaking the Sri Lanka Rupee. Checks by GhanaWeb Business to some forex bureaus in Accra show the cedi is selling around GH¢13.70 to the dollar as of October 27, 2022. MA/FNOQ Watch the latest episode of BizTech below: