CDD-Ghana Fellow, Dr. Kwame Asiedu Sarpong, challenges the Vice President and Standard Bearer of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, to reconsider the strategy to recover the Cedi from its free fall journey. I appealed to them to do so.
Dr. Asiedu Sarpong with Millicent Safoadu on the Kumasi-based Abusua 96.5FM in Bresosem over the weekend Dr. Bawumia, before becoming Vice President in 2017, urged Ghanaians to believe in his ability to strengthen the Ghanaian Cedi. He said that he was aiming to
He stressed that while in opposition, Dr. Bawumia outlined measures to stabilize the cedi, but nearly eight years into power, the cedi has fallen from 3.80 gigahertz to 15 gigahertz.
Dr. Asiedu Sarpong reviewed his academic notes and recalled the strategies that Dr. Bawumia proposed to Mr. John Mahama to strengthen the local currency and should be implemented to save the cedi from its current decline. he suggested.
He expressed dissatisfaction with the government’s silence on the depreciation of the cedi, saying, “The government must address the cedi issue because it affects us all.”
Citing the example of the impact of the depreciation of the cedi on the average Ghanaian worker earning 3,000 per year in Ghana, Dr. Asiedu Sapong explained that the depreciation of the cedi makes imported goods more expensive and reduces purchasing power, which in turn leads to price hikes by sellers in the market, which directly impacts consumers.
Additionally, Dr. Sarpong gave the recent example of the pound’s exchange rate fluctuations and shared concerns over the significant depreciation of the cedi against major currencies.
“Last week, I sent money to Ghana from May 8th. 1 pound was Ghc17.13ps. The next day, the pound-to-cedi rate was Ghc17.25ps. Two days later, it moved to Ghc17.35ps. When I sent money yesterday Ghc was 18.17 ps,” he emphasized.
He highlighted the worrying trend of devaluation of the Cedi in the short term and stressed the urgency of addressing this economic challenge.
“So I decided to check the trends and understand what was going on. On April 18th, I found that 1 pound = 1 cedi was 16.80 cedis. As of May 18th, it was 18.17 cedis. It is trading at around 2 cedi in 30 days,” he pointed out.
The calls for a reassessment of the cedi recovery strategy come amid growing concerns over the currency’s fall and its impact on Ghana’s economy and daily life.