Johnson Ayine, a member of the NPP’s Regional Communication Team has blamed, in part, the country’s depreciating value on the huge appetite for dollars. Mr. Ayine also blamed the structure of Ghana’s economy as part of the many reasons why the cedi has depreciated and will continue to depreciate.
“The depreciation of the cedi is all about our taste for dollars. The country can do this when you have a very good export-led economy where the export is not just raw materials you produce. If you are able to add more value to your export, you would be able to get more foreign value.”
“When you have a situation where goods and services are being charged in local currency, when you have a situation where there is a taste for more local goods and services, it helps. Unfortunately, some of these things, we are challenged with them. We have an appetite for foreign goods than for local goods. We are a people who think that if you have the dollar, even if it is one, you can deceive many.”
Mr, Ayine said this when he spoke on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Show. He continued to say that “you cannot run away from the pandemic.” This he explained the mean that the COVID-19 pandemic has had some devastating effects on the structure of Ghana’s economy.
To this end, Mr. Ayine is proposing a change in the Ghanaian mindset. He called on Ghanaians to create an appetite for locally manufactured products and services.
The cedi has weakened 36.3% this year making it the world’s worst-performing currency after Sri Lanka’s rupee. A 30-year analysis shows that every time the measure has dropped for 15 straight weeks — there have been 28 such instances in the period — the fall has extended each time.
The West African nation’s central bank on Wednesday increased its benchmark interest rate by the biggest margin on record to slow the decline. A depreciating currency will add to the import bill of the country that purchases most of its fuel from overseas, and has been struggling with inflation accelerating at the fastest pace since 2003.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
