Finance Minister Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam has publicly criticized Bolgatanga Central Member of Parliament, Isaac Adongo, accusing him of advocating for the purchase of dollars to conduct business operations.

Dr. Amin Adam, who also serves as the Karaga Member of Parliament, condemned Mr. Adongo's actions, alleging that they were aimed at undermining the Ghanaian Cedi and could potentially lead to its depreciation.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, July 1, Dr. Amin Adam described Mr. Adongo's remarks as inappropriate and detrimental to efforts aimed at stabilizing the local currency.

He asserted that Mr. Adongo's comments were deliberately intended to incite negative sentiments against recent improvements in the Cedi's value.

Despite the controversy sparked by Mr. Adongo's remarks, Dr. Amin Adam assured the public and the business community that the Cedi has shown gradual improvement compared to the same period last year. He attributed this positive performance to effective government policies, forthcoming financial inflows, and successful debt restructuring efforts.

"We have said over and over that the problem with the Cedi can also be largely attributed to speculation, and therefore while we’ve been making efforts to influence market sentiments positively, we also know that some other people are inciting speculation. We have had intelligence that people have been deliberately inciting speculation but we never got it too real as we saw only two or three days ago."

"When my good friend and brother Isaac Adongo went out there urging people to buy dollars to do their business and this was after I indicated at a town hall meeting in the UK that with all the policies we are implementing and with the flows that we are expecting from external sources and with the completion of the debt restructuring with our bilateral official creditors and Eurobond holders, we saw the Cedi becoming stronger and stronger. My brother went out there to say people should ignore Amin Adam and go out there and buy dollars," he said.

Highlighting broader economic trends, Dr. Amin Adam underscored that Ghana's economy is exhibiting robust signs of recovery, particularly in the first quarter of 2024.

He cited significant improvements in key economic indicators, including a 4.7% real GDP growth rate for the first quarter, marking the highest growth since early 2022.

"The resilience of our economy is evident in the strong growth figures reported for the first quarter of 2024," Dr. Amin Adam remarked. "These results surpass expectations and indicate a promising outlook for the remainder of the year."

The Finance Minister concluded by reaffirming the government's commitment to maintaining macroeconomic stability and fostering sustainable economic growth through continued implementation of the IMF-supported programme.

He urged stakeholders to disregard speculative actions that could undermine confidence in the national currency, emphasizing the importance of collective efforts in securing Ghana's economic future.