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Leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko has urged the media to desist from fuelling speculation about the depreciation of the Ghana cedi against the US dollar.
According to him, while it is not the job of journalists and analysts to fix the cedi, the fate of the local currency ”will not be helped by fuelling speculation in media reports and commentary.”
Reacting to Mr. Otchere-Darko, Director of Operations at Dalex Finance, Joe Jackson said his argument is ”ridiculous.”
”How can you see this currency decline the way it has and say we should not talk about it? The cedi has lost its role as the store of value. If I had GH¢600 at the beginning of the year, it was $100, today it is $40. As a country that imports almost everything, it means that 60% of our purchasing power is being eroded.”
”I do not even expect anyone who can afford it to store their money in cedis. Everyone wants to jump into dollars and there are no dollars to buy because we haven’t suddenly increased the dollars we have. Due to this, the few dollars that are available are going to the highest bidders at higher rates. That is why we see ourselves in this spiral [situation],” he posited on The Big Issue on Citi FM/TV.
He believes the only way to go is to take significant steps to restore stability.
”That significant movement will occur possibly when we get the IMF deal done or when the government shows clearly that it is going to reverse its mindset and cut expenditure in a significant way.”
