PAC clears BoG over missing $600M

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament has cleared the Bank of Ghana over accusations that the Central bank cannot account for 600 million dollars in its foreign reserve accounts.

Officials of the Central bank appeared before the Committee Thursday to answer questions about the Auditor General’s report covering foreign exchange receipts.

The Ranking Member of the Committee, Ibrahim Dey said such a revelation never came out during the scrutiny of the Audited accounts of the country’s central bank and warned Journalists to report accurately on the committee’s sittings.

“On the issue of the 600 million dollar...I want to make it very clear that there’s nowhere the PAC said that 600 million dollars was missing from the Bank of Ghana.

“We never said that here. If the papers are saying that then they can go ahead but it would be very good we clear the air here...I think it is incumbent upon us to report exactly what we say here, I am begging the reporters here,” Hon. Dey said.

Meanwhile, the deputy Governor of the Central Bank, Millison Narh told the committee that the country’s depleting foreign reserves is responsible for the weakening of the local currency.

“We are not able to support the market adequately because of the low reserves levels that we have. Once you reduce your reserves what happens is that you are not able to support the market as you would have and this actually impacts on the performance of the currency from time to time.

“So what is happening to the currency now is because of the low reserves levels that we have because we are not able to support the currency as much as we would have loved to,” Narh said.