Cedi Stability Saves Ghana GHS150 Billion – Elikem Kotoko Credits Gold-for-Oil Policy

Deputy CEO of the Forestry Commission, Elikem Kotoko, has claimed that Ghana has already saved GHS150 billion in public debt due to the cedi’s growing stability against the US dollar. He attributes the gains to strategic initiatives introduced under the Mahama-led administration.

“There is very significant evidence that we are heading in the right direction, with inflation dropping,” Kotoko said during an appearance on Channel One TV’s Breakfast Daily on Monday.

“By the mere fact that the efforts of the Bank of Ghana Governor, the Finance Minister, and other key stakeholders and the formation of the Gold for Oil and Gold for Reserves programmes have helped hold the dollar stable for this period, that alone has saved us GHS150 billion in our public debt.”

He expressed optimism about future savings if the cedi continues on its current trajectory. “If we manage to drop to a single digit, I am convinced that we would be heading to over GHS250 billion written off—not under us paying, but by the strength and potency of our currency,” he stated.

In a related development, Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson recently seized the moment to throw shade at former Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia for what he called failed promises under the previous administration.

“Eight years in office. There was a time he said that he has arrested the cedi. Why couldn’t he do it?” Forson questioned in an interview with Joy News after the Mid-Year Budget presentation in Parliament on July 24.

When asked by host Evans Mensah whether he too had ‘arrested’ the cedi, Forson brushed it off.

“I’m not a policeman. But this is the evidence. The evidence on the screen shows a historic appreciation of the cedi,” he said. “I mean, looking at where it is, it’s sort of climbed 42.6%. And if you look at where we were coming from and that steep climb…”

Source: Liberalprint.com