BoG must not give gov´t overdraft – Dalex CEO

Mr Kenneth Thompson, Chief Executive Officer, Dalex Finance and Leasing Company Limited, has called on Dr Abdul-Nashiru Issahaku, the new appointed Governor of the Bank of Ghana to resist the temptation of giving government overdraft.

“Dr Issahaku must help save the government from itself. Ensure that Government only spend within budget especially as the nation gears up for Elections later in the year,” Mr Thompson told the Ghana News Agency in an interview in Accra.

President John Dramani Mahama on Monday April 4, appointed Dr. Issahakuas the new Governor of the Central Bank to replace Dr. Kofi Wampah, who took an early retirement at a time when his performance had been largely criticized.

Dr. Issahaku, until this appointment, was a deputy Governor of the Bank.

Mr. Thompson attributed the failing of Ghana’s economy over the past two decades to the inability of government to abstain from overspending and stressed the need for Dr. Issahaku to put his foot down on that front.

He urged the new governor to be firm and even bounce government cheques if government attempts to over spend. “That’s what we are looking for because it’s very clear to all of us that we have to spend within our means.

“We have not secured our future because we have been unable to spend within our means for over 25 years,” he said.

The Dalex Chief Executive noted that; “I have confidence in Dr Issahaku’s capabilities to restrain the government from overspending”.

A brief profile of Dr Issahaku indicates that prior to his appointment as Second Deputy Governor in 2013, he served as the acting Chief Executive Officer of Export Development and Agricultural Investment Fund (EDAIF).

Dr. Issahaku has also worked with the African Development Bank and World Bank.

He holds Masters in Agric Economics and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Georgia.

He worked as a Governance Expert at the State University of New York, Center for International Studies.