Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, the former Vice President and NPP Presidential Candidate for the 2028 election, has revealed that Ghana’s IMF programme under the Akufo-Addo government contributed to the rapid depreciation of the cedi between 2022 and 2024.
According to Dr Bawumia, the IMF programme capped the Bank of Ghana’s foreign exchange market interventions at a maximum of $80 million per month.
Dr Bawumia argued that the IMF cap meant the Bank of Ghana could use a maximum of $960 million a year to support the cedi.
He disclosed that amount was far below Ghana’s monthly demand for foreign exchange to finance fuel, machinery, medicine and other imports.
Speaking on Thursday during a meeting with members of the Ghana Small-Scale Miners Association in Accra, Dr Bawumia stated, “One of the restrictions for the IMF programme that we engaged in was the amount of foreign exchange that the central bank could use to intervene to support the cedi. We were given a maximum of $80 million a month”.
“So, we were really constricted in terms of availability of foreign exchange. And at the same time, the cedi was depreciating almost on a daily basis,” he said.
He further explained that the restriction formed part of the IMF’s reserve accumulation strategy but created a foreign exchange scarcity in the market.
According to Dr Bawumia, the restriction was lifted in January 2025 after Ghana had built sufficient foreign exchange reserves through the Gold for Reserves programme.
He added, “Because we had built up the foreign exchange reserves through Gold-for-Reserves, that restriction was removed. And since then, the Bank of Ghana has been able to put in at least $1 billion a month in the market”.
He further cited the current level of intervention with the previous cap, “From $80 million maximum per month, or $960 million per year, to $1 billion a month. We couldn’t even do $1 billion a year before.”
He argued that the increased availability of foreign exchange following the removal of the restriction contributed to the stability of the Ghanaian cedi.
In other news, Bright Simons, the Vice President of IMANI Africa, has said the Bank of Ghana’s approach to stabilising the cedi and inflation is overly aggressive.
According to Bright Simons, the BoG’s excessive intervention in the foreign exchange market could undermine Ghana’s long-term stability.
Speaking on The Point of View on Channel One TV on Monday, May 4, 2026, Bright Simons explained, “The other thing I also think is critical is we shouldn’t completely excuse the monetary side because the monetary side has the duty to set the right and realistic levels for cedi value and for inflation”.
“I genuinely believe that the Bank of Ghana has been somewhat too aggressive than the conditions warrant in its ability to paint a certain degree of stability in the currency. You have to have that mindset, but you also have to respond to real dynamics in the economy”.
“If the real dynamics in the economy are such that you’re struggling to keep up, then you’re going to have this situation where you’re trying to buy so much gold because you need so much more dollars to intervene. You need some dollars to intervene, but what level of dollars do you need to intervene?” he questioned.
“I have personally talked to the Bank of Ghana and asked them to model the right level of intervention that makes sense, knowing very well that it’s very difficult, but there has to be an attempt because this thing where you say we have unlimited capacity to intervene in the foreign exchange market is not credible,” he said.
He further warned, “In other markets, this will signal that the Bank of Ghana is ripe for attack because it can’t have unlimited capacity to intervene in the foreign exchange market. Rather, we don’t know the policy guidance on that. Does it really have unlimited capacity or not?” he added.
Bright Simons argued that the BoG must strike a balance between maintaining stability and responding to underlying economic realities.
The Vice President of IMANI Africa’s comments come in the wake of the central bank’s 2025 financial statement.
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