Efforts to save economy continues as BoG holds emergency monetary policy meeting today
As part of measures to steer the Ghanaian ailing economy in the right direction, the Bank of Ghana is scheduled to hold an emergency Monetary Policy Meeting today.
Dubbed “emergency monetary policy Committee meeting,” in a statement issued on Monday August 15,2022, the BoG said, “the monetary policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of Ghana will hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday 17th August 2022 to review recent developments in the economy”.
The statement added that “the meeting will conclude with an announcement of the decisions of the Committee”.
However, it is not surprising that the BoG is organising this meeting under the tickets of emergency.
It will be recalled that on August 5, 2022, Ghana’s economy was described as weak after it was deemed not to be relevant and thus cannot borrow from the international capital markets.
These developments forced credit rating agencies like S&P and Fitch to downgrade the country to CCC+/C with negative outlook.
S&P Downgrade
On Friday August 5, 2022 the ratings agency S & P lowered Ghana’s local and foreign currency credit ratings to CCC+/C from B-/B, pointing to the government’s “limited commercial financing options, and constrained external and fiscal buffers”.
Meanwhile, in a statement on Monday, August 8, 2022, the finance ministry said Ghana’s worsening economic state had been exacerbated by “global external shocks,” and that various revenue-saving measures introduced at the beginning of the year would soon bear fruit.
“The government is disappointed by S&P’s decision to downgrade Ghana despite the bold policies implemented in 2022 to address macro fiscal challenges and debt sustainability,” the statement said.
“The government is committed and is confident that it will successfully emerge from these challenges in the shortest possible time, as we have demonstrated the track record to do so,” it said.
At the beginning of the year 2022, Moody’s and Fitch both downgraded Ghana. On criticising the work of the rating agencies, the Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, stated that the international ratings agencies were institutionally biased against African economies.
Ghana has since been unable to borrow from global capital markets, which the finance ministry and the central bank have partially blamed on the downgrades.
