Your job is not to stabilize the cedi – Pianim tells Ken Ofori Atta

Renowned Economist, Kwame Pianim has asked Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta not to focus on how to stabilize the Cedi which is struggling against the dollar because that is not his responsibility.

According to him, that is the sole responsibility of the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Ernest Addison and he should be allowed to discharge that duty.

The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has assured that the cedi will stabilise in the next few weeks.

Speaking to Journalists outside Parliament House Wednesday, March 13, 2019, Mr. Ofori-Atta said government is expecting large inflows of foreign exchange which will help turn around the value of the cedi which has hit a record low of 5.6 to a dollar.

“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 a stability,” the Finance Minister said.

In an interview on Kasapa News, the seasoned Economist, Kwame Pianim urged the Finance Minister to rather focus on transforming the Ghanaian economy, adding that we can’t continue to do the same thing over and over again expecting different results.

“Tell my nephew Ken Ofori Atta that I say he should concentrate on working hard to build the economy and provide jobs for the teeming masses, and let investors invest their monies here in Ghana to stabilize our currency. His job is not to see to the cedi being stabilized, that is the work of the Govenor of the Bank of Ghana who has been appointed by the President.”

He added: “It is not the pumping of monies into the system that will stabilize the economy as the Finance Minister is claiming. Ex-President Mahama also pumped monies into the system but that could not stabilize the cedi when it struggled against the dollar. What Ken Ofori Atta should do is to rather help to transform the economy. As a country we can’t continue to do things the same way as we did several decades ago. We should all join in propagating to the whole world that Ghana is a peaceful country and that investors will have their monies worth if they invest here. We have young people who are technology entrepreneurs these are the kind of people we should be supporting as a state. We can’t expect to be doing the same thing over the years and expect different outcomes”.