First year economic students know causes of cedi fall, FX committee needless – Mahama

Former President John Dramani has described as unnecessary, the committee set up by the government to among other things, investigate the instability of the Ghana cedi.

On the back of consistent depreciation of the Ghana cedi, the government through the Finance Ministry inaugurated an FX Development Committee to look into the causes of the free fall of the cedi against major trading currencies and propose solutions.

The establishment of the 40-member committee was in fulfillment of a promise by the government to constitute a bi-partisan committee to look into the cyclical problem and help address same.

But the opposition leader thinks the cause of the cyclical depreciation of the cedi against major trading currencies is too elementary an issue to warrant the institution of a committee.

According to him, students beginning to learn economics should be able to tell the causes of the phenomenon.

In a Facebook Live video Thursday, the former president said the Akufo-Addo government has not been innovative enough to deal with issues affecting the economy.

“It takes innovation and smart thinking to be able to do all these things [managing an economy], they hadn’t been in government before, they were very naïve asking 170 theoretical questions and then today they come and set up a 40-man committee to understand why forex is [falling], I mean a first year university student will tell you and so you don’t need that FX Committee”, he said.

The former president said he feels vindicated when he said that the President and his vice have now come to the realization that running an economy is different from merely theorizing it.

“You don’t run an economy from textbooks, you don’t run an economy with lectures, running an economy takes practical work, determination and prioritization”, he noted.