Minority calls out BoG for writing off over GHs30bn debt owed by government

The Minority in Parliament say Bank of Ghana acted illegally when it purported to write of some debt owed it by the government.

The Central Bank has written off more than 30 billion cedis debt of the government.

Government, earlier this year, wrote off half of the 77.6 billion cedis it owed to the Central Bank and replaced the remainder with a lower-yielding, 15-year bond.

The move is part of the country’s push to restructure its domestic debt – a requirement to qualify for the next tranche of a $3 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) rescue loan.

Speaking to journalists in Parliament, acting Ranking Member on the Finance Committee, Isaac Adongo explained that such a write of can only be completed with a resolution of Parliament.

But the Bolgatanga Central legislator argues that this modality was not been complied with.

“In the first place, you people were here, I called you to this place and said that there was an alarm at the Bank of Ghana because the man was just printing money and throwing them at government, isn’t it? I told you at the time that I was aware of 44 billion in 2022.

“And there was a balance of 35 billion from 2021 pushing the figure to 79 billion and that this was illegal and it was creating serious fiscal dominance over monetary policy, and that was the reason we’re suffering from inflation, high interest rates, and the depreciation of the currency. The next day didn’t they write thesis telling you that they were overdraft,” he said on Thursday.

According to the MP, this move by the Bank of Ghana seeks to evade “the powers of Parliament’s to exercise oversight oversight over the public finances of our country.”