The Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has said Ghanaians do not need a 40-member committee to rescue the cedi but rather an entirely new government to rescue the nation.

His comment comes after the Ministry of Finance established an Emergency Forex Development Committee to arrest, to some extent, the perennial rapid fall of the cedi against other major foreign currencies, particularly the US dollar.

Last year, the local currency lost about 12.9% despite an improvement in the fundamentals of the Ghanaian economy.

But Mr Ablakwa, in a Facebook post, said: “It has become as clear as crystal that we do not need a 40-member committee to rescue the cedi; we need an entirely new government to rescue the nation.”

Addressing the media during the constitution of the committee in Accra on Thursday, 16 January 2020, a Deputy Finance Minister, Mr Charles Adu-Boahen, said the move, further complements the government’s efforts to stabilise the cedi.

According to him, the committee will review the current FX regime, identify the inherent constraints in the system and offer workable alternatives by way of policies and programmes which potentially, would reduce FX risks in the economy.

“Foreign exchange volatility remains a major concern for the government as this impact real output growth and also increase in price inflation. As empirically established, the seasonal fall in the value of the cedi can be explained by external headwinds and cyclical domestic demands for forex by corporates and individuals as well as the energy sector. The other factor exacerbating the situation is the currency market speculations,” he stated.

He said the committee will critically look at the role of automation and digitisation as a critical enabler of FX reforms.

The committee is chaired by Mr Ofori-Atta.

The membership of the committee is drawn from the Office of the Vice-President, Bank of Ghana, Agriculture Ministry, Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), Association of Ghana Industries, some universal banks among other key stakeholders.