GH¢60bn loss: BoG should’ve informed Parliament about DDEP bailout – Duffour

A former Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr. Kwabena Duffuor, says the central bank should have officially informed the Finance Minister and provided a copy of that information to Parliament after it provided the government with a bailout for its Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP).

He said that doing so would not have instigated the raising of so many concerns about the BoG’s loss of GH¢60.8 billion in 2022, especially by the Minority in Parliament.

There have been calls for the resignation of Dr. Ernest Addison, Governor of the BoG, and his two deputies from the Minority in Parliament following the GH¢60.8 billion loss in the apex bank’s 2022 Annual Report and Financial Statements.

However, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has justified the Bank of Ghana’s GH¢60 billion loss saying there is no cause for alarm.

The IMF, in a post on its website, explained that the BoG suffered losses because it participated in the DDEP, which was a key element of the government’s plan to restore macroeconomic stability and public debt sustainability.

Speaking in an interview with Bernard Avle on The Point of View on Citi TV in Accra on Wednesday, Dr. Duffuor said, “It is not about the IMF. It is the law that says that if you and your board decide to pay so much to the government, you must inform the Minister and Parliament.”

“The IMF does not come into this. If the governor and the board, after having done that, write to the minister and Parliament, it means he has complied with the law.”