President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said that the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic whose effects were exacerbated by the Russia-Ukraine conflict called for some corrective measures to address the imbalances and restore stability.
With the support of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), he said, macro-economic stability is being restored.
The BoG has supported the government by providing a sound platform to underpin the government’s economic diversification and transformation process, he said.
“Again, there is clear evidence that inflation is being contained. From 54 percent in December 2022 to 26.4 percent in November 2023. We are also witnessing sustained stability of the exchange rate. The effective partnership between the BoG and the IMF under the terms of the government’s programme with the fund is yielding the right results,” the president said.
Regarding the financial sector, it is recalled that one of the reasons the Bank of Ghana gave to the woes of some of the failed banks was poor corporate governance structure in those banks.
The nine banks that collapsed during the financial sector clean-up were UT Bank, Capital Bank, UniBank, The Royal Bank, The Beige Bank, Sovereign Bank, The Construction Bank, Premium Bank and Heritage Bank.
President Akufo-Addo said “I am also encouraged by the many corporate governance measures put in place by the BoG to mitigate future bank failures and ensure that we have a strong banking sector to drive the agenda of transformation. Recent policy measures introduced by the BoG are commendable and in line with efforts to move Ghana to a situation beyond aid.”
“I have also taken a keen interest in the bank’s role in the digitization of the economy. The architecture of our payment system has been transformed completely and financial inclusion has been deepened to ensure shared growth for all Ghanaians. All these make the BoG an institution of excellence, reflecting the recent international recognition of the central bank. The bog has won the Central Bank of the year awards two times with the governor, Dr Ernest Addison on one occasion being adjudged the central bank governor of the year,” he said during the end-of-year cocktail dinner by the central bank last week.