Former MP joins calls to scrap useless, needlessm FX Development Committee

Former Legislator for La-Dade Kotopon Constituency, Nii Amasah Namoale, has described as ”useless and needless”, an FX Development Committee, set up by the government to investigate the fall of the local currency.

Namoale said the institution of the Committee is a waste of time since they are not likely to proffer any better solution to the cedi’s depreciation against the dollar other than to explain ”A-Level Economics” to Ghanaians.

He made the comments on Adom FM’s current affairs show, Burning Issues, on Monday, January 20, 2020.

His comments resonate with those of two senior citizens, Kwame Pianim and Ishmael Yamson, who have called on the government to dissolve the Committee.

The FX Development Committee has been set up by the government to, among other responsibilities, complement the efforts of the Bank of Ghana in curbing the poor performance of the cedi against other foreign currencies.

According to a Deputy Finance Minister, Charles Adu Boahen, the Committee will also look at the automation and digitisation as a critical enabler of foreign exchange (FX) reforms and would not take over the central bank’s role as managers of the cedi.

The Committee is made up of technocrats from some selected ministries, Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), some banks and is headed by Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.

Speaking on the same show, Greater Accra Chair of the GUTA, Kwadwo Amoateng said the best way to save the cedi is to ensure all foreign traders abide by the laws of the land.

This he says will stabilise the currency rather than setting up a committee which would not yield any profitable results to address the depreciation.

Meanwhile, a Third Vice Chair of the New Patriotic Party, Michael Omari-Wadie, insisted on Burning Issues that the Committee will surely adopt measures to curtail the free fall of the cedi against other major international currencies especially the U.S. dollar.