Senior Vice President of Imani Ghana, Kofi Bentil, has described Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia's praise of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) during the country's economic crisis as "despicable."

"The worst part of Dr Bawumia's speech was his praise of the BoG. I find it despicable," he told Samson Lardy Anyenini on Newsfile on Saturday, February 10.

The private legal practitioner said as a policy analyst, he "has friends at the central bank" which suggests he has insider information.

Bank of Ghana record loss of GH¢60.8bn

According to its Annual Report and Financial Statements, the central bank recorded a loss of ¢60.8 billion in 2022. 

The BoG’s record loss is coming after it posted a ¢1.2 billion profit in 2021.

According to the Annual Report and Financial Statements, the loss is attributed to a decline in the Group’s net worth position due to the impact of the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) and the impairment of some assets.

Again, its total liabilities and subsidiaries exceeded its assets by ¢54.52 billion.

In 2021, the Central Bank recorded a surplus of ¢5.72 billion. 

The Minority in Parliament called for the head of the Bank of Ghana Governor and his deputies for their incompetence which they said led to the loss.

Salute the Bank of Ghana, says Bawumia

But in his address to the nation on Wednesday, February 7, Dr Bawumia who is the head of government's Economic Management Team heaped praises on the BoG.

He urged Ghanaians to salute and give particular recognition to the central bank, which he said has come under unfair criticism for taking the necessary measures to help pull the economy back from the brink of collapse.

According to him, the central bank provided needed financing to government at that critical moment.

“What the Bank of Ghana did was very responsible, in putting the interest of the good citizens of Ghana first”, he disclosed when addressing the nation.

The Vice President also said the data available shows that the financing provided to government by the Bank of Ghana was temporary.

He stressed that the Bank of Ghana has provided zero financing to government in five out of the last seven years (2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2023),.

“The Bank of Ghana's financing to government in the COVID-19 year of 2020 and liquidity crisis year of 2022 was because of a domestic and global crisis (underperforming domestic revenue and no access to international capital markets)”, he concluded.

Despicable for Bawumia to praise BoG, says Bentil

But Mr Kofi Bentil, who says the 2024 NPP flagbearer is a better option for Ghanaians to vote for in the upcoming election than NDC's John Mahama, disagrees.

"He said so because the BoG helped save this government, but I am not sure what the BoG was doing in the interest of the state. I totally disagree with Dr Bawumia on his praise of the Bank of Ghana.

"He may like what they did, but I don't and I think the Bank of Ghana, have not shown themselves to be responsible in crisis. That is why we gave the BoG independence so that when governments mess up, you don't follow them into the mess and make the kind of losses that you make...and at the same time be building a $200 million edifice on top of it in this mess."

He said the Vice-President should "find a way to make sure that this does not happen again."