I don’t have the figures before me – Mohammed Amin on inflation rate, interest rates

The Minister of State in charge of Finance appointed by the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, was caught in "ignorance" when he was asked about Ghana’s current inflation rate, interest rate, monetary policy rate, and the rate at which banks were lending amongst themselves.

According to the former deputy energy minister, he "did not have the figures before him."

His response came after a member of the appointments committee, Governs Agbodza, asked: "Honourable, if you are approved, you will be serving at the Ministry of Finance. Do you know what the policy rate is today, what the inflation is today, what the rate at which banks are lending amongst each other today? Can you tell us what those rates are?"

He said, "Thank you, Mr. Chairman; I don’t have those figures before me."

Agbodza further asked: "But you said earlier that inflation has come down, come down to where, so how come you don’t have any figures to mention?

"Inflation had gone to somewhere 55%; today it’s about 54%, and I am saying that I don’t have the figures before me, and so I don’t want to say anything which is wrong before this important committee," he retorted.

The minister-designate appeared before parliament’s appointments committee on February 21, 2023, to be vetted as the minister of state in charge of finance.

Ghana’s inflation rate dropped slightly from 54.1% in December 2022 to 53.6% in January 2023.

However, the Bank of Ghana hiked the monetary policy rate to 28% in January.

SSD/FNOQ