Printing of GH¢22 billion claims: John Kumah, Ato Forson face-off in Parliament

After Ken Ofori-Atta, the Finance Minster delivered the Mid-Year Review budget on Monday, July 25, two leading figures in the finance space in Parliament, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson and Dr. John Kumah, clashed over the alleged printing of GH¢22 billion worth of cedi notes by the Bank of Ghana to ostensibly be injected into the economy.

Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, who is also the Ranking Member on Finance alleged that the said figure had been hidden in the main budget document, an abridged version of which had been delivered by Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta on the floor of the House.

Speaking to the Press, the Minority spokesperson accused the Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) of printing more currency for the country without approval from Parliament.

The former Deputy Finance Minister said, “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.”

He noted that the said amount is hidden on page 97 of Appendix 2a of the mid-year budget under the section on Bank of Ghana.

Ato Forson later repeated the same during the budget discussion proper on the floor of Parliament on Tuesday and linked the rising inflation rate to the illegal decision of the Central Bank.

“In the 2020 budget, the project was that the government was going to take zero amounts from the Central Bank only for us to see that between January to June 2022, this administration has taken GH¢22 billion from the Bank of Ghana.

“When the Bank of Ghana gives money to the government it is called printing of money and that is unacceptable.”

But Dr John Kumah, a deputy Minister of Finance, in a rebuttal explained that the stated GH¢22 billion is an overdraft advanced by the Central Bank to the government.

He, then, stressed that there was nothing illegal about it.

“If you read section 30 of the Bank of Ghana Act, it is within the remit of the law for Bank of Ghana to grant overdrafts and support to the Central government without printing money.”

Meanwhile, the Bank of Ghana has denied the claim by Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, that it printed GH¢22.04bn to support the government’s budget without parliamentary approval.

Source: Ghanaweb