Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has challenged claims by Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson that the recent gains of the Ghanaian cedi are unprecedented, asserting that the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration had already halted the currency’s decline before leaving office.
Speaking during the debate on the 2025 Mid-Year Budget Review in Parliament on Thursday, July 31, Afenyo-Markin acknowledged the cedi’s current improvement but stressed the need to understand the broader economic context.
“Mr. Speaker, the Minister jubilantly proclaims ‘cedi no apicki’, claiming the appreciation is unmatched in Ghana’s history. But we must examine the causes and sustainability of this performance,” he noted.
Afenyo-Markin criticised the Finance Minister’s presentation for failing to highlight the global factors behind the cedi’s steep depreciation in 2022. He recalled that during that period, Ghana’s currency was among the worst-performing globally, having lost over 50% of its value at one point.
“This was not unique to Ghana. Almost all emerging markets experienced similar currency pressure due to aggressive U.S. interest rate hikes and the Russia-Ukraine war, which raised commodity prices and depleted foreign reserves,” he explained.
The Effutu MP also attributed part of the 2022 currency woes to Ghana’s temporary loss of investor confidence before securing a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). However, he insisted that the NPP administration took decisive steps to reverse the trend.
“By the end of 2023, the NPP had arrested the cedi’s free fall. Through measures like the IMF programme, debt restructuring, and the Gold-for-Oil policy, the cedi had significantly stabilised,” Afenyo-Markin stated.
He cited a marked slowdown in the rate of depreciation—down to 19% year-on-year by the close of 2024—as evidence of the progress made before the current National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration assumed office in January 2025.
“The Mahama-led government inherited a recovering cedi, not a collapsing one,” he concluded.
