The Ranking Member on Parliament’s Finance Committee, Isaac Adongo, has slammed the Finance Minister’s criticism of attacks on the leadership of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) over the bank’s GH¢60.8 billion loss.
Ken Ofori-Atta, had jumped into a Public Relations job in defence of the Governor, Dr Ernest Kwamina Yedu Addison, over the recent criticisms after the BoG posted a GH¢60.8-billion loss in 2022.
There is a planned protest against the BoG boss by the Minority NDC fixed for October 3, over his management of the Central Bank, but ahead of that Mr Ofori-Atta, has said that Dr Addison, just like him, has faced major economic hurdles since 2017, but managed to scale them fairly.
He, therefore, expressed surprise about the current state of public discourse, which has seen Dr Addison “being pilloried for his good work”.
“Governor Addison is a competent professional of quiet courage,” Mr Ofori-Atta wrote on Wednesday, September 13.
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“In these nearly seven years, we have worked together to ensure: the inviolability of the banking system; the establishment of the Consolidated Bank of Ghana (CBG) and the Development Bank of Ghana; the raising of over $10 billion in the Eurobond market and AfriExim bank.
But Adongo taken on Ofori-Atta’s comments said they are “unfortunate and sad” and that they ignore the fact that the BoG is required to report on its comprehensive income statement, which reveals profit or loss.
“Non-governmental organisations that are not profit-making don’t report comprehensive income statements and they don’t disclose profits or losses. They disclose deficits or surpluses. Is Ken Ofori-Atta aware that because of its special mandate and its need to make a profit or loss that is why the international financial standards require such entities to report comprehensive income statements revealing profit or loss?” Adongo said.
Adongo, argued that the BoG, must be held accountable for its losses, just like any other public institution. He said the minority caucus in Parliament is right to demand answers from the BoG leadership.
“We need to know what happened to the money that was lost. We need to know why the BoG was unable to manage its finances effectively. We need to know what steps are being taken to prevent such losses from happening again,” Adongo said.
The BoG, has defended its performance, saying that the loss was due to a number of factors, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the Domestic Debt Exchange. The BoG, has also said that it is taking steps to improve its financial management.
However, Adongo and other critics of the BoG, are not convinced. They argue that the BoG’s losses are a sign of mismanagement and that the central bank needs to be held accountable.
Mr Ofori-Atta in an article emphasised that the primary objective of the Bank of Ghana, like all central banks, is not to generate profit.
In the article titled “Standing Strong With The Bank of Ghana,” the Finance Minister addressed the importance of managing the central bank as a financially sustainable institution, rather than focusing solely on profitability.
The Finance Minister, had argued “in these nearly seven years, we have worked together to ensure: the inviolability of the banking system; the establishment of the Consolidated Bank of Ghana (CBG) and the Development Bank of Ghana; the raising of over $10 billion in the Eurobond market and AfriExim bank.
“He brought inflation down to single digits of 7.9% for the first time; and managed an impressive period of currency stability in our country, including the implementation of the Gold-for-Oil programme.
“It is either simply the height of irony or a sad reflection of the state of public discourse in our country that this man, steps up in a period of unprecedented global economic meltdown and domestic economic crises, and he is being pilloried for his good work.”
This comes after the Minority in Parliament called for the Governor’s head.
The caucus had given him and his two governors – Dr Maxwell Opoku Afari and Elsie Awadzi Addo – 21 days within which to resign.
Members led by Leader Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, had also attempted on two occasions to lead a march to the headquarters of the Central Bank to prosecute this agenda. Both were met with resistance from the Ghana Police Service, who claimed the office was a security zone.
Agreement has been reached for the march dubbed #OccupyBOGProtest to be staged on Tuesday, October 3.
