Oppong-Nkrumah pleads for positive cedi speculation

The Information Minister Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah has called for positive speculation around the cedi as it appreciates against the dollar after months of free fall.

In a plea on the floor of Parliament, the minister urged more focus on the positives of the economy “so that our currency will continue to enjoy the resilience that it is beginning to experience today.”

The minister has in the past accused the Minority in Parliament of speculating negatively about the cedi to spark panic.

“There is some a practice in this country where some people specialize in speculating down the Ghana cedi for us all and the activities of speculators and the speculation and the speculation that is incessantly associated with the currency contributes to this exercise. Mr. Speaker, today, in the name of Ghana, we would like to plead with such persons that as we come out off this programme and us currency begins to experience a rebound, let us speculate the positives.”

Mr. Oppong-Nkrumah also espoused confidence in the Akufo-Addo administration to be fiscally disciplined as it exits the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme on April 2.

The Executive Board of the IMF just approved the final disbursement of about US$185.2 million to Ghana.

“We have shown a commitment, the competence and the discipline required to meet the target and come out of that programme,” Mr. Oppong-Nkrumah said.

“We have also put in place the infrastructure for irreversibility, he added, referencing the Fiscal Responsibility Act.

“It is key in ensuring that tomorrow, we don’t run this economy aground and go back for another bailout programme.”

The minority, hower, continued its scepticism of the Cedi’s recent rebound.

The Ketu MP, Fifi Kwetey said “this temporary injection that has taken place is basically going to have the same effect [as last year]. They did that, thinking that somehow that is going to lure the people into a certain sense of security but that security will be short-lived.”