Bank of Ghana not bankrupt, says Otabil

The director of communication at the Bank of Ghana (BoG) Bernard Otabil has refuted claims suggesting the central bank is bankrupt.

His comment is in reference to a letter by the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bawku Central, Mahama Ayariga, on the authority of Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, the Minority Leader in Parliament to the Greater Accra Regional Commander of the Ghana Police Service notifying the police command about a planned public protest against the governors and board of the Bank of Ghana on 30 July, 2024.

Reacting to the development Otabil said, “As I have explained in previous discussions, the Bank of Ghana is policy solvent and not bankrupt as it has been touted.”

“In fact, the annual report and financial statements (2023) released some few months ago provides elaborate explanation on the Bank’s policy solvency. In 2023, fighting inflation, that is reducing inflation from 54.1% at end December 2022 to 23.2% at end December 2023 came with a cost of more than GHC8 billion, contributing to the loss in that year. In 2022, the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme was the bane of the financial position,” he said.

Otabil added, “If BoG had suffered the hit all the pensions funds in the country would have been wiped out. BoG is the only institution that can absorb those losses and correct it over time.”

On the issue of wanton cost incurred by the Bank, Otabil said  “In BoG, we engage in strategic planning spanning a number of years. Every year, Departments draw up their activities for the following year and it is costed, and captured in the budget, which becomes the operational blueprint.

“There are budgetary hearing processes and the board sub-committee reviews them and final budget is presented for board approval. All activities undertaken are budgeted. In the area of procurement, all the PPA processes are followed”.

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