Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia says the prevailing exchange rate of the cedi against the US dollar and other international currencies is not peculiar.
According to him, it is an unfortunate global phenomenon occasioned by forces beyond the control of any nation.
He blamed the current situation, including the Ghana cedi’s depreciation, on Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, the banking sector clean-up, and the COVID-19 pandemic, among other factors, for derailing what was once a valuable currency and a robust economy.
He however reassured the Ghanaians of better days ahead as steps are being taken to reverse the worrying trend.
In the context of the worsening exchange rate which has largely been blamed on the war between Russia and Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Bawumia said: “We have done so much but of course, there’s more to do.”
According to him, “we have to deal with our immediate cost of living challenges, exchange rate challenges, debt sustainability challenges. But I believe that with focus and sense of urgency and by the grace of God we’ll surmount all of these challenges and transform the economy.”
He explained the universal nature of the economic slump saying “we should not forget a strain have been placed on the global economy and ours has not been spared either. If you look around the world you’ll see that inflation and the cost of living have increased astronomically everywhere as they say in local parlance, ‘nowhere cool.”‘
He was speaking at the Biennial Joint Session of the AME Zion Church at Kasoa in the Central Region on Thursday.
Dr Bawumia urged the congregation to remain steadfast and not be lured by sweet-talking politicians whose interests are largely parochial.
“I pray that the love of God and nation will lead us on and that none of us will be blinded by selfish partisanship,” he noted.
Source: myJoy