A member of Parliament’s Finance Committee, Isaac Yaw Boamah-Nyarko, has called on the government to urgently focus on building strong foreign reserves to consolidate the recent stability of the cedi.
Speaking on PM Express on JoyNews on Monday, May 26, the Effia MP cautioned that Ghana must not bask in temporary currency gains but rather plan for long-term economic resilience.
“We are quick to take praise when these things are happening, but we are unable to plan well and put in the necessary mechanisms that are more sustainable,” he said.
Mr Boamah-Nyarko revealed that Parliament is scheduled to summon the Finance Minister to explain the government’s strategy for maintaining the currency’s performance.
“We’re going back to Parliament tomorrow to ask the Minister of Finance to give us information on the government’s strategy and plan to consolidate these gains and ensure that we build buffers that can withstand future adversity,” he said.
He expressed concern over Ghana’s gold reserve management, noting that reserves were being depleted without adequate replacement.
“As at the end of December, our gold reserve stood at 30 tons. And five months down the line, we’re selling almost 20 tons of gold, yet our addition to the reserve is less than 1 ton,” he lamented.
Mr Boamah-Nyarko said Ghana’s economic vulnerabilities were laid bare during the COVID-19 pandemic and cautioned against overreliance on current high commodity prices.
“We are not going to get this gold price going on like this forever. We are not going to get a cocoa price rise like this forever,” he warned.
He urged the Vice President, who heads the Economic Management Team, to provide clear assurances to Ghanaians on plans to sustain the cedi’s current strength and build foreign reserves.
“We want the Vice President to assure us, as a country, of the kind of arrangements being put in place to ensure that all of these gains are not just a nine-day wonder,” he stressed.
Citing global examples, the Effia MP highlighted the need for stronger reserve policies. “The US has over 8,000 tons, and the UK has over 2,000 tons,” he said.
He warned that failure to act now could leave the country exposed when global prices begin to fall.
“If we continue on this trajectory, by the end of the year, how much reserve would we have built into our system?” he questioned.
Source: Abubakar Ibrahim
