{"id":599604,"date":"2019-03-16T13:18:02","date_gmt":"2019-03-16T13:18:02","guid":{"rendered":"
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Private legal practitioner, Kofi Bentil has said cash from the Cocoa Syndicated Loan will not help in solving the problem of the depreciating cedi.<\/span><\/p>\n

If it could, he noted, previous governments would have succeeded at arresting the free fall of the cedi in previous years through the same means.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The cedi has currently crossed \u00a25.62 to a dollar compared to GH\u00a24.42 in the same period last year and GH\u00a24.27 in January 2017.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

For a country that is greatly dependent on imports, many fear the depreciating cedi will only get worse if long term measures are not put in place to check it.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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The Association of Oil Marketing Companies <\/span>has<\/span><\/span><\/span> warned that they may be forced to increase their prices at the pumps of the rate of depreciation continues.<\/span><\/p>\n

President Akufo-Addo has expressed worry over the situation<\/b> and the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta has promised relief in the coming weeks as <\/span>government<\/span><\/span><\/span> is expecting large inflows of foreign exchange soon.<\/span><\/p>\n

He told journalists during the week that government was working at solving the problem and \u201cWe have about $300 million coming in from COCOBOD and another $600 million also from COCOBOD in about a month or so. We have officially launched our Eurobond which will be $3 billion and that should close within the next couple of weeks.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWith the kind of\u00a0<\/span>fundraising\u00a0that I have talked about,\u201d he said, \u201cI think that all things will come to an end and we will realise that this is just a blip…and all of this should happen the next two or so weeks,\u201d he added.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\"Kofi<\/p>\n

But Mr Bentil doubts if this is the solution to the problem.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Senior Vice President of <\/span><\/span>policy<\/span> think tank, IMANI Africa said, the claim that the COCOBOD cash will solve the problem is like \u201chaving a <\/span>disease-causing<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> temperature and you are taking a painkiller for it,\u201d he said on Joy News\u2019 news analysis programme, Newsfile.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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He said causes of the year on year depreciation of the cedi is yet to be known and government, instead of consistently pumping dollars into the economy and relying on COCOBOD and foreign investments, must look at long term solutions.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat the cedi rate reveals is that there is something fundamentally wrong with our economy and I don\u2019t think we have understood it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhoever is dealing with it is not doing a good job. If you claim to be working hard at something but you are not solving the problem, you don\u2019t know what you are doing because clearly, the problem is not being solved.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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The Finance Minister\u2019s suggestion for something to be done about the country\u2019s <\/span>over-dependence<\/span><\/span><\/span> of exports as it creates a depreciation of the cedi, has also been critiqued by Mr Bentil.<\/span><\/p>\n

He said the United States\u2019 ability to maintain <\/span>a<\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00a0stable dollar despite its large trade deficit is proof that that analogy is moot.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr Bentil suggests \u201cWe have <\/span>economists<\/span><\/span><\/span> in this country, department of economics, analysts, think thanks\u2026we have people who should take this issue and analyse it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s find what causes our cedi to behave this way because if we don\u2019t cure this temperature it will start affecting our brain and start killing everything. We need to study it understand it then we can competently manage it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Sulemana<\/p>\n

The Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), <\/span>Sulemana<\/span><\/span><\/span> Braimah agrees with Mr Bentil.<\/span><\/p>\n

He said the problem of the cedi is similar to\u00a0a number of problems the country faces and <\/span>government<\/span><\/span><\/span> has failed to address it just like they have failed in the other areas.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have not had politicians who have said they will take a long term approach which will not yield the results that will make people happy immediately, which will mean that the likelihood of losing an election is real but it is about the interest of the country.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He is certain that the vice president, Dr Mahamadiu Bawumia \u2013 who is the head of the economic management team \u2013 is capable of solving the problem and they should take the bold step and damn the consequences.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n