I listened to Hon. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah’s attempt to downplay the current administration’s exchange rate management strategy. And honestly, I found the argument not just flawed, but a little ironic, because Ghana has been here before.
Foreign-exchange injections alone have never stabilised any currency in the world, and Ghana is not an exception. Selling dollars gives temporary breathing space, nothing more. Stability comes from credible macroeconomic management.
We all saw what happened under the leadership of Dr Mahamadu Bawumia as Head of the Economic Management Team. The previous government pumped significant forex into the market (over $6 billion), launched special programmes, yet the cedi kept depreciating sharply.
Why? The fundamentals were weak!
You cannot stabilise a currency when:
• Inflation is rising aggressively
• Policy rates are hitting record levels to chase inflation
• Public debt is piling up, and investor confidence is weakening
• External borrowing becomes excessive and unsustainable
• Reserves are under pressure, and market confidence is shaken
In 2022, inflation soared above 54%, the cedi tumbled to 17 per dollar, interest rates spiked, monetary policy rates averaged 29% and businesses and households felt the full impact. No amount of dollar sales could save the currency under those conditions, and they didn’t.
So if forex injections alone could stabilise a currency, then Dr Bawumia and his economic team would not have failed. That is just the plain truth.
Today, the story is different because the strategy is different.
We are seeing:
• Inflation trending downward (9.4%)
• Stronger reserve buffers, including gold accumulation
• Debt restructuring gains and disciplined borrowing
• Tight and credible monetary policy alignment (monetary policy rate 21.5% down from 27% in January 2025)
• Improved fiscal positioning and market confidence
• More transparent FX auction management
And the market is responding. The cedi is seeing stability because the economic engine behind it is being rebuilt properly, not because someone simply threw dollars at the problem.
And the benefits are real for the ordinary Ghanaian:
• Import pressures are easing
• Fuel prices have stabilised and are continuing to reduce• Prices of essentials are moderating
• There’s some certainty in the business environment
• Purchasing power is being restored
In November last year, if Alswel Annan from Assin Foso needed to pay £10,000 tuition fees at the University of Aberdeen, he needed as much as 220,000 cedis at the rate of 22cedis per 1 pound. Today, he’ll need just 143,800 cedis to pay the same tuition fee of £10,000. A savings of 76,200 cedis.
That is real relief to Alswel Annan, not political talking points but real money in people’s pockets.
That is what coordinated economic management delivers.
In August of 2022, Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah promised they were going to stabilise the cedi by injecting some $2 billion into the economy. It’s therefore clear how narrow they viewed the problem.
It is about the fundamentals. Currency stability comes from discipline, strategy, credibility and macroeconomic coordination, not microphones and market theatrics.
And if anyone still doubts what is working today, I can only offer one simple piece of advice:
Just keep quiet and observe the exchange rate.
DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
Source: myjoyonline.com
