The Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr Henry Kofi Wampah, has denied rumours of his purported resignation from his job.
The news of the resignation was first reported by an Accra newspaper, the Scandal, in its yesterday’s edition, in which it said Dr Wampah had submitted his resignation letter to President John Dramani Mahama last Wednesday, July 16.
But Dr Wampah, who is on an official assignment outside the country, told the Daily Graphic in an exclusive interview that the report was not true and that it should be disregarded.
“It is not true that I have resigned and I want you to disregard the report,” he said in the telephone conversation.
The BoG, under the leadership of Governor Wampah, has come under intense pressure in the wake of consistent depreciation in the value of the cedi against the major trading currencies.
The cedi has lost about 30 per cent of its value to the US dollar and by a similar percentage to the British pound, as well as other major currencies.
This has resulted in the downward spiral of the economic indicators, compelling the government to revise downward its 2014 Gross Domestic Product, inflation and deficit targets.
Fiscal policy measures introduced by the central bank are not yielding the desired results, as the cedi now trades between GH¢3.0319 and GH¢3.0343 to a dollar and GH¢5.1730 and GH¢5.1789 to the British pound.
Suing the BoG
Only last week, the BoG was dragged to the Supreme Court over the depreciation of the cedi.
A private legal practitioner, Dr John Ephraim Baiden, asked the court to order the bank to put in measures to provide a stable currency.
While accusing the BoG of overstepping its bounds and, as a result, hurting the cedi, the plaintiff noted in his statement of case that the court should ensure that Ghanaians regained their “monetary sovereignty”.