The Minority in Parliament, in conjunction with Civil Society Organizations, Progressive Forces, and other concerned citizens, has scheduled a demonstration against the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Ernest Addison, and his two deputies for Tuesday, September 5.

The Minority Leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, made this known in a press statement dated August 21, 2023.

According to Dr Ato Forson, the Minority has submitted a letter to the Greater Accra Regional Police Command, dated Monday, August 21, outlining the caucus's intention to hold a demonstration.

The protest is prompted by the alleged unauthorized printing of over GH¢80 billion by the central bank for the Akufo-Addo government.

“We write in line with sections ,1 2&3 of the Public Order Act 1994 (Act 491), to notify you of an impending public protest to be embarked upon by the Minority in Parliament in collaboration with Civil Society Organizations, Progressive Forces and other well-meaning Ghanaians.”

“The purpose of this protest is to express our revulsion against the illegal printing of money (about GH¢ 80 billion) between 2021 and 2022 by BoG for the corrupt Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/NPP government which led to a hyper-inflation rate of 54.1% in December 2022,” excerpts of the letter said.

According to the Minority, the Central Bank, by so doing, has pushed some 850,000 Ghanaians into poverty.

“This singular act of BOG has negatively impacted livelihoods and businesses and pushed about 850,000 Ghanaians into poverty in the year 2022 alone.”

“As representatives of the Ghanaian people,the Minority in Parliament is totally disgusted by the crass mismanagement and reckless mishandling of the affairs of the Bank of Ghana, which resulted in a gargantuan loss of GHC60.8 billion and a negative equity of GHCS5.1 billion in 2022, with its attendant hardships on Ghanaians,” the statement added.

In the meantime, Dr. Ernest Addison, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), has clarified that the central bank only began providing funding to the government in 2020 and 2022, particularly during the COVID-19 Pandemic. This decision was made after investors in the capital market declined to lend to the government.

Dr. Addison emphasized that the central bank rigorously adhered to the principle of zero financing of government expenditure until economic challenges emerged last year. He noted that the financing of government policies in the previous year was carried out following prior consultation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“It is not true that the Bank of Ghana has been providing financing for government every year. There has been zero financing in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021. The Bank of Ghana has only had to support in the pandemic year of 2020, and in the crises year of 2022”, he stressed.

He pointed out that the BoG Act as amended limits financing of the government to 5 percent of the previous year’s tax revenue.

“This provision in the law has been adhered to since I took office in April, 2017, between 2017 and 2019. In addition to the requirement of the Act, the bank signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Finance to even impose the tighter restriction of zero Central Bank financing and this was observed strictly even though the MOU’s were not legally binding.”