The Minister for Finance, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam has sent a warning to manufacturers and industries, accusing them of contributing to the depreciation of the cedi.

The local currency has suffered a significant fall against major foreign currencies in recent times, reaching as high as GHS15.59 pesewas to a dollar.

At an engagement with manufacturers on Thursday, August 8, the Finance Minister said the hoarding of dollars, and the dollarization of the economy have contributed significantly to the fall of the cedi.

“There some companies, they manufacture, they sell, and they accept cash, physical cash from their sales. And when they have done that, they don't keep the cash in the banks, they go and convert it into US dollars and keep the dollars. That contributes to the forex problem you're talking about. We need to check that,” he stated.

Dr Amin Adam cited an instance where an oil processing company attempted to hoard dollars, significantly impacting the Cedi's value.

He explained that the “company deposited $15 million in a bank but lacked even a third of the required Ghana cedis to support a $50 million demand. This action caused the cedi's depreciation when it was trading at 13 cedis to the dollar, leaving the market in a precarious state.”

He therefore appealed to the manufacturers to help curb the cedi from depreciating.

“Where the demand for the dollar exceeds the supply of the dollar what do you expect to happen to the price of the dollar in which case the cedi? It will depreciate. So I'm appealing to you also talk to your members to support the efforts of government,” he said.

He also urged the manufacturers to support the government’s efforts to transform the economy to avert the possibility of any civil action in Ghana.