Renowned economist Professor Godfred Bokpin has pushed back against claims that the recent stability of the Ghanaian cedi is entirely a product of policies from the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration, led by former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
While speaking on Morning Starr with Naa Dedei Tettey, Professor Bokpin offered a more nuanced view of the cedi’s performance, pointing out that the current government’s economic efforts cannot be overlooked.
“I do not subscribe to the proposition that this government has not done anything……..I’ve just explained to you from the fiscal side, I’ve explained to you from the monetary side, and the coordination that is going on. There’s a direction, there’s a focus where they are heading towards, they themselves are not surprised, so we cannot say they have not done anything,” he stated.
His comments appear to directly respond to recent remarks by Dr. Bawumia, who attributed the cedi’s relative appreciation to strategic moves like the gold reserves programme, which was introduced during the NPP’s time in office.
Speaking to members of the Young Executive Forum in London during his UK “Thank You” tour, Dr. Bawumia downplayed the efforts of the current National Democratic Congress (NDC) government, asserting they had contributed little to improving Ghana’s currency performance.
But for Professor Bokpin, while the present administration’s transformative impact may yet be felt, it’s premature and inaccurate to write off their input.
“But in terms of transformative interventions and all of that, we can, yes, we haven’t seen that now, it’s early-stage days. I told you that real expenditure commitment to that government policy announcement, to launching and commissioning, is yet to happen, so we can say it from that perspective. But you can’t say that all of these are just down to what the previous administration did,” he argued.
He further emphasized that the current coordination between key financial institutions such as the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Ghana marks a shift from the previous administration’s approach.
“There’s some kind of intentionality from the fiscal side from the Minister of Finance, Bank of Ghana, and they have the strong backing of the President; they are mirroring the leadership of the President. Unlike what happened under the previous administration, there wasn’t much coordination between the Central government and the Bank of Ghana,” Professor Bokpin concluded.
