IMF programme blamed for the Cedi’s decline

Professor Godfred Bokpin, an economist and finance expert, has attributed part of the Cedi's depreciation to the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) programme with Ghana.He said that under the IMF programme, the Central Bank was barred from intervening in the currency exchange market when the Cedi fell against major trading currencies.That situation prevented the Bank of Ghana (BoG) from entering the foreign currency market to stabilise the Cedi.Prof. Bokpin made the comment on a local radio station that was monitored by the Ghana News Agency (GNA) over the weekend.'Part of the reason why the cedi is depreciating is also consistent with the latest IMF-supported program. Under the IMF-supported programme, they favour a stable exchange rate.'This limits the ability of the central bank to be in the market and fight off the depreciation through our reserves.'Part of the IMF programme is to build our reserve of three months of import cover for 2026…What that means is that it tightens the hands of the c entral bank to intervene in the market to sell dollars to stabilise the cedi.'Now they cannot do that under an IMF programme,' he said.?Source: Ghana News Agency