Admit you don’t have all the answers – Mahama advises Akufo-Addo on cedi depreciation

Former President John Dramani Mahama has called on the Akufo-Addo led government to seek help in recovering the cedi which keeps depreciating against all major foreign currencies.

According to him, the free fall of Ghana’s currency in recent times might be ‘exposing a deeper malaise in the "fundamentals of the economy"’.

The former president in a Facebook post recalled how he called for the Senchi Economic Forum in 2014 when the country was facing a similar economic challenge adding that the forum produced the “Senchi Report which contributed to the Homegrown Fiscal Consolidation Programme”.

He further stated, thanks to the Homegrown Fiscal Consolidation Programme, the cedi was one of the best performing African currencies in 2016.

According to John Mahama, asking for help will not take anything away from the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia administration.

“There are times when a leader or a party must admit that they do not have all the answers to the challenges facing the economy or a particular sector. At such times, it does not take away from your dignity, but adds to your credibility, when you create a consultative process that forges a consensus and allows a nation to move forward.”

He urged the government to call for a “Senchi type stakeholder forum on the economy”.

Meanwhile, the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has assured that government is expecting large inflows of foreign exchange which will help turn around the value of the cedi.

“Really I am very confident that a reversal is going to occur and that it [cedi] is going to be pretty stable going forward. We have about 200 million dollars coming in from Cocobod and another 600 million from cocobod in a month or so…and that should close within the next weeks or so…with the type of capital that we expect in the few weeks we really expect a reversal and stability,” the Finance Minister said.

Find Mahama's full statement below