The First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Zakari Mumuni, says the central bank is not using up reserves to support the cedi. He insists the recent gains are not artificial.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we were that heavy in terms of our support to the market, we would not be doing well with our reserves accumulation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He described the market rally as credible and rooted in real confidence, dismissing speculation that the central bank is drawing down its buffers to defend the local currency.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, if this were the case, market players who are very smart would have seen through it,\u201d Dr. Mumuni said. \u201cThe rally would have been short-lived. They wouldn\u2019t trust you.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the central bank has actually been building reserves faster than anticipated.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are even accumulating reserves much, much faster than what has been expected,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd that is why the market really thinks this can be sustained.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Mumuni stressed the quality of the reserves. \u201cThese are not debt-creating reserves,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are organically accumulated reserves. At the end of April, we had over $10 billion. We expect to hit $11 billion by the end of June.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said these figures are far above IMF targets. \u201cThe IMF program set a target of three months of import cover. We are now at 3.7 months using IMF metrics,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
If you include petroleum funds, we\u2019re around 4.7 months. That\u2019s quite a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said this performance shows policy innovation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have devised very strategic ways of meeting market demand while still accumulating external buffers,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we are doing now places more weight on building reserves than on direct market support.\u201d<\/p>\n
He told Joy News that the approach has shifted. \u201cThis time is different,\u201d Dr. Mumuni said.<\/p>\n
He acknowledged that other factors also support the cedi\u2019s strength.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had a Staff Level Agreement with the IMF. That sent a strong message globally. It means things are changing.\u201d<\/p>\n
He pointed to disinflation. \u201cInflation dropped from nearly 24% to 21.2%. That\u2019s progress,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFiscal consolidation is also taking shape. Public sector borrowing has slowed sharply compared to last year.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the Bank of Ghana has taken deliberate steps to manage liquidity. \u201cWe\u2019ve sterilised three times more than last year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo we\u2019re keeping cedi liquidity tight while still meeting forex demand.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said all these efforts work together. \u201cWe are not intervening recklessly,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re building confidence, not burning reserves.\u201d<\/p>\n
He repeated the central point. \u201cThis is not smoke and mirrors,\u201d Dr. Zakari said. \u201cThis is real. And we intend to sustain it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Zakari Mumuni, says the central bank is not using up reserves to support the cedi. He insists the recent gains are not artificial. \u201cIf we were that heavy in terms of our support to the market, we would not be doing well with our reserves […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123457,"featured_media":11007,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,3525,3515],"tags":[3528,3527],"class_list":["post-11006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-economy","category-top-story","tag-dr-zakari-mumuni","tag-the-first-deputy-governor-of-the-bank-of-ghana"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/123457"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11006"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11006\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11008,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11006\/revisions\/11008"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}