Government is committed to stabilizing cedi – Ofori-Atta

Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta has assured that government remains committed to implementing measures to address the perennial depreciation of the Ghana cedi against its major trading partners.

The Minister gave the assurance when he responded to a question posed to him in Parliament by the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bongo Constituency, Edward Abambire Bawa on Wednesday, June 22, 2022.

According to the Minister, government has so far implemented a 30% cut in expenditures as part of measures to reduce the fiscal deficit, noting that this is geared toward helping reduce the pressures on the exchange rate.

“Government is complementing efforts to keep the cedi afloat through its fiscal consolidation measures and real sector interventions. The implementation of the 30% cut in expenditures and other expenditure measures approved by Cabinet are all helping to reduce the fiscal deficit and thereby reduce the pressures on the exchange rate,” he said.

He said, in addition, government is undertaking real sector interventions including the Ghana CARES programme to support imports substitution of products such as poultry, rice, and other essential commodities thereby reducing foreign exchange pressures from the imports of those products.

Mr. Ofori-Atta said government is also arranging to raise about US$1 billion to support the 2022 Budget and foreign exchange reserves.

This forex inflow, he explained, is expected to improve the supply of the foreign currency and the stability of the local currency.