Don't Be Deceived! Bank of Ghana Is Still Financing Gov't - Dr. Amoako Baah Coroborates Printing of Gh¢22Bn Claim

The Minority Spokesperson on Finance, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, has alleged that the Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) has printed money to support the government's budget without parliamentary approval.

According to him, "Between January and June 2022, the Minister responsible for Finance and the government went to the Central Bank, and they encouraged the BoG to print money worth GH¢22 billion. They have printed GH¢22 billion fresh money without the knowledge of Parliament and without informing all of us."

But the Central Bank in a statement issued on Tuesday, July 26, 2022, said Dr. Ato Forson's claim is false.

"The amount of GH¢22.04 billion represents net claims on government, and not new currency printed to support the government’s budget," it said, noting that the net claims of GH¢22.04 billion comprised the stocks and bonds sold by banks, the country's allocation of special drawing rights (SDRs) by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), drawdown of government balances with the central bank and negative on the government's account owing to auction failures."

Speaking to this, however, a former Political Science lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Dr. Richard Amoako Baah said Ato Forson's claim is true.

In an interview on Neat FM's ‘Me Man Nti’ programme, he said, "It's true . . . the bank of Ghana is still financing the government; don't be deceived. The Bank of Ghana doesn't receive deposits . . . they are financing the government and it is not only in Ghana. When things become difficult the central bank prints money to help the government pay internal debts. Where did the Bank of Ghana get the money? Makola? I can tell you that when things get harder they will do it again . . . "

Listen to him in the video below