Lately, the Bank of Ghana, under the leadership of Dr Ernest Addison, has been in the news for different reasons, mostly the wrong ones.
Among the recent ones, has been the bank’s loss of 60.8billion Ghana cedis, due largely to the due to the impact of the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) and impairment of some assets.
This is not all, the ones that have gotten Ghanaians talking is some of the expenses the bank incurred in 2022.
According to the 2022 Annual Report and Financial Statements of the Bank of Ghana, the bank revealed that it recorded a loss of ¢60.8 Billion Ghana cedis.
Again, its total liabilities and subsidiaries exceeded its total assets by ¢54.52 billion.
The bank in its annual report also capture spending GH¢131.6 million on vehicle maintenance. The central bank also spent GH¢97.4 million on foreign and domestic travel, among some jaw dropping expenses.
Despite the health of the economy, which is not in good shape, at the time austerity measures are being asked of state institutions, the BoG, is spending a colossal amount of amount of $250 million on a new headquarters.
As a newspaper, however, we are not against building a headquarters that is befitting of our central bank, but the timing of the project, which has coincided with the loss of 60.8 billion Ghana cedis, does not make any sense.
Were the BoG to be the private bank of Dr Ernest Addison, will the governor in good conscience think building a new headquarters, no matter the justification that, the old one which was built in the 1960s is no longer fit for purpose.
In a statement the Central Bank argued that a structural integrity assessment conducted on the current office revealed that the building did not satisfy the full complement of excess strength required for a building to be considered safe for usage.
The explanation given by the Bank for its new headquarters, is not based on sound reasoning. The bank must listen to criticism about the timing of the building.
Like most Ghanaians, as a newspaper, we are both alarmed and utterly embarrassed at the revelations by the BoG. Such are purely indicative of the enormity of the rot that permeates the bank.
While we join the National Democratic Congress in calling for the resignation of the Governor, Dr Ernest Addison and his deputies, we also enjoin the anti-graft agencies to urgently begin the process of investigation and eventual prosecution of all those involved in this loss of an unimaginable magnitude.
