By Frank Amponsah
President Akufo-Addo has commended the Governor, management and staff of the Bank of Ghana (BOG) for their contribution towards the building of the country’s economy the past three and half year since he has been in office as President.
Addressing the Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BOG), Ernest Addison and his management team at the central bank during a visit, President Akufo-Addo said looking at the amount of work the BoG has done for the nation, he felt obliged to come over himself to register his appreciation to the bank on behalf of people of Ghana.
“I felt that there are two or three critical matters that have occurred in recent times which required a special gesture on the part of the President. The first of course is the sterling role that the Central Bank is playing in supporting the economic policies in the last three and a half years of my government. I think that the measures that have been taken, the soundness of the measures and your own personal commitment to ensuring a stable macro-economic and generally clear business environment for our country has been extremely useful in supporting the work of the Ministry of Finance, and of course, ultimately of the work of my government. So I wanted an opportunity to come and use your own premise to express my appreciation,” President Akufo-Addo said.
BoG Role in COVID-19 Fight
The President was quick to add that the Central Bank during the nation’s battle with the novel Coronavirus, COVID-19, from March 2020 to date, has been extremely supportive.
“These last six difficult months that our country and the world has gone through during the COVID, the support that the Bank of Ghana has given to government, to the economy, and to businesses, has been an outstanding feature of your stewardship of the bank and it has made it possible that despite the difficulties and the major disruptions and dislocations that the national economy has endured as a result of COVID-19, still our economy is has quite a sound and solid basis,” President Akufo-Addo stated.
Banking Sector Clean Up
On the banking sector cleanup, President Akufo-Addo said it is one that was “handled very well” and was a major achievement of the Governor and his staff.
“I know there’s a lot of controversy. Many of the people responsible for the crisis in the first place find it convenient to be pointing accusing fingers at those of us who are trying to clean up the mess. But that is the way of things, those things never bother me too much because I understand the need for politicians to agitate. But, I think that it is a matter that has been very well handled and has enabled the country to come out of the financial sector mess that we inherited,” the President observed.
BoG and AfCFTA
The implementation of the African Continent Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the President noted, is a new challenge that the Bank of Ghana is going to have to support the Ministry of Finance to ensure that it is implemented successfully in Ghana.
“As you know, our country is about to embark on a major development, not just for our country, but the continent. We are today, the host of the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area. I see the AfCTA as one of the most important decisions that our common Pan African mobilization has taught us in recent times. Its impacts and its possibilities are enormous for the future welfare of our African people. Its Secretariat being here requires that we have to be seen to be giving the leadership on the continent in the way in which the economies are properly managed and developed and the measures that would also allow the ideas of the free trade to succeed. The Bank of Ghana would have to play a critical role in this compelling future,” the President said.
