The Spokesperson to the Vice President, Dr Gideon Boako, has asked Ghanaians to be measured in their criticisms of the Bank of Ghana (BoG).
Dr Boako said even though the citizenry has the right to criticise the government and state agencies when they falter, it must be done not to cause irreparable damage to its image.
According to him, discussions around the central bank, if done with political sensationalism, can hurt the bank badly – which will affect the economy and Ghanaians as a whole.
Speaking in a media interview on Tuesday, August 22, Dr Boako therefore urged Ghanaians to be circumspect in criticising the central bank.
“Much as I agree that Ghanaians, in general, should show interest in issues at the central bank just as they do with issues of government, we ought to be measured most of the time when we are running commentaries on central bank decisions and certain actions they take because if we are not careful and don’t put issues into proper perspective and have proper appreciation of the matter, we may run commentaries out of political sensationalism and end up putting our central bank which is the lender of last resort to government in a position that creates the image in the minds of people that will become difficult to redeem.”
The Bank of Ghana in 2022 amongst others accrued a loss of GH¢60 billion.
The Bank is also putting up a new head office building at Ridge allegedly costing $250 million.
However, aside the cost, the Minority in Parliament has criticised the bank about the timing of the project when Covid-19 had just hit and things are tough for the economy.
But the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Ernest Addison, at a press conference on Monday, August 21 justified the construction of the new office building.
Dr Addison said the new building will have some sensitive features which the current head office building does not have.
According to him, these features will include data centres, currency processing centres and more.
The Governor also said the new building is designed to meet a modern-day head office of a central bank as compared to those in Abuja and Dakar.
He, however, did not make mention of the exact amount being quoted as the cost of the project.
He said he has requested a more detailed response to be released to address all other concerns regarding the project.
“The Bank then began to plan the building of its new head office taking into consideration the need to ensure that the building meets all the requirements of a modern central bank of international standards similar to central bank head office buildings in Abuja and Dakar and include provision for data centres, currency processing centres, volts and other sensitive installations, so it is not just a simple ordinary building.”