The Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Ernest Addison, believes the Bank is justified in stating that the peaking inflation rate the economy experienced in 2022 was temporary.
Speaking at the end-of-year cocktail of the BoG on Thursday, December 14, 2023, Dr. Addison opined that the IMF-supported PC-PEG programme was yielding positive results, reflecting the downward trend of inflation, despite criticisms from its opponents.
“Ladies and gentlemen, the policy mix under the IMF-supported PC-PEG programme is gradually yielding positive results. From the peak of 54.1 percent in December 2022, headline inflation has declined to 35.2 percent in October 2023, and today it has fallen to 26.4%,” Dr. Addison stated.
“I kept on reminding people that inflation was at 12.7% in December 2021 and that what we saw in 2022 should not be used to judge us. As you are aware, there has been considerable noise from our detractors who have celebrated the high inflation recorded in 2022. Today we are vindicated that inflation in 2022 was just a blip, and we are quickly returning to where we were before the crisis,” he added.
Dr. Addison also highlighted improvements in the country’s foreign exchange position, stating that additional buffers have been put in place to stabilise the forex market.
He also mentioned investment in technology by the bank in an effort to bolster its monitoring activities of entities under its control, whose absence, he says, accounted for the failures of banks, savings and loans, and microfinances in 2016.
There have been persistent calls by the opposition and other pressure groups for the governor’s resignation, citing incompetence amidst a GHC 60.8 billion loss declared by the BoG in 2022 and soaring prices of goods and services.
