The Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr Ernest Addison, has announced that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the bank has maintained the Monetary Policy Rate at 29 percent.
Dr. Addison told a news conference after the Bank’s 118th Monetary Policy Committee meeting in Accra on Monday that the decision was informed by slight elevation of the inflation profile due to recent exchange rate pressures and adjustments in transportation fares.
He stated that inflation is projected to remain within 13 to 17% at the end of the year.
Speaking on the state of the economy and the value of the Cedi, Dr. Addison assured that the BoG has enough dollars to meet the foreign exchange needs of the country.
He urged the persons engaged in the speculative purchases of dollars to stop from the practice since the central bank is fully committed to provide stability in the exchange rate for the cedi.
“The Bank of Ghana has adequate reserves to manage these shocks to the foreign exchange market, having added over $600.0 million to the current foreign exchange reserve levels over the first five months of the year. The improved reserves position is also backed by strong liquid monetary gold levels of over 26.6 tonnes (estimated at US$2.1 billion) as a result of the very successful domes¬tic gold purchase programme,” local media reports on Tuesday quoted the governor of BoG as saying.
Dr Addison explained that the exchange rate pressures witnessed in recent weeks reflected a weakening of the current account surplus due to higher import demand and lower export revenue, especially a sharp fall in cocoa export earnings.
The cedi, according to the reports, has come under pressure in recent weeks and currently a cedi is sold above GH¢14.0 to a dollar.
GIK/APA
Ghana retains interest rate at 29%
