Renowned Economist, Professor Godfred Bokpin, has dismissed claims that the recent appreciation of the Ghana cedi is solely the result of groundwork laid by the previous Akufo-Addo-Bawumia administration.
His remarks come in response to comments made by former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, who credited the cedi’s current stability to the gold reserves initiative introduced under the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) government.
Speaking during an interaction with the Young Executive Forum in London as part of his “Thank You” tour of the UK, Dr. Bawumia argued that the current National Democratic Congress (NDC) government had done little to stabilize the economy.
Since January 2025, the Ghanaian cedi has experienced significant appreciation against the US dollar, making it the world’s best-performing currency since April, according to Bloomberg.
The local currency is currently trading at approximately GH₵12.09 to the dollar, reflecting a strong rebound in its value.
However, speaking on Morning Starr with Naa Dedei Tettey, Prof. Bokpin rejected the notion that the gains can be entirely attributed to past policies.
He emphasized that the current administration has shown deliberate fiscal and monetary coordination aimed at economic stabilization.
He acknowledged that while the current administration may not yet have launched large-scale transformative interventions, it is premature to dismiss their contribution entirely.
“I do not subscribe to the proposition that this government has not done anything……..I’ve just explained to you from the fiscal side, I’ve explained to you from the monetary side, and the coordination that is going on. There’s a direction, there’s a focus where they are heading towards, they themselves are not surprised, so we cannot say they have not done anything.”
“But in terms of transformative interventions and all of that, we can, yes, we haven’t seen that now, it’s early-stage days. I told you that real expenditure commitment to that government policy announcement, to launching and commissioning, is yet to happen, so we can say it from that perspective. But you can’t say that all of these are just down to what the previous administration did.”
Prof. Bokpin noted that while the foundation laid by the previous government may have played a part, gains are also the result of coordinated and intentional efforts by the current government to restore fiscal discipline and macroeconomic stability.
“There’s some kind of intentionality from the fiscal side from the Minister of Finance, Bank of Ghana, and they have the strong backing of the President; they are mirroring the leadership of the President. Unlike what happened under the previous administration, there wasn’t much coordination between the Central government and the Bank of Ghana.”
