2024 flagbearer for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has chided the Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr Ernest Addson, for failing to assume responsibility for the recent loss incurred by the institution.

The Annual Report and Financial Statement of the Bank of Ghana reveals that the institution incurred a loss of GH¢60.8 billion for the 2022 fiscal year.

The Central Bank explained that a significant portion of the overall GH₵60 billion loss, specifically GH₵53.1 billion, can be attributed to the government's implementation of the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP).

In response, former President John Mahama, noted that Dr Ernest Addson has decided to use the government's Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) as a cover to conceal his ineffectiveness.

In a Facebook post on August 10, he compared Dr Addsion, whom he alleges is being controlled by the government, to Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, whom he also says has blamed Covid-19 and the Russia/Ukraine war for Ghana’s economic crisis due to his incompetence.

“An incompetent Finance Minister damages the economy and uses Covid-19 and Ukraine/Russia war as cover-ups. A pliant Governor destroys the Central Bank and seeks to use the Domestic Debt Exchange (DDE) as a cover,” he wrote.

The Bank of Ghana insists that it intervened to mitigate a substantial economic and societal predicament arising from the failure of the DDEP.

“The Bank of Ghana was used to close the gap to enable Ghana to meet the debt threshold that qualified Ghana for the IMF programme. The Bank of Ghana, therefore, acted as a loss absorber,” a statement from the Central Bank posted.

The Bank of Ghana further elaborated that a subsequent deterioration in Ghana's sovereign debt rating, resulting in the restriction of the nation's access to international capital market borrowing, was the catalyst for a liquidity crisis.

This crisis, in turn, had cascading effects, leading to a broader balance of payments crisis.

Meanwhile, the Minority in Parliament is demanding the immediate removal of Dr Ernest Addison over the “mismanagement” of the Central Bank.