Former President John Mahama has taken on the Bank of Ghana (BoG) Governor for his “incompetence” which led to the total loss of GH₵60.8 billion in 2022. 

He said Dr Ernest Addison is using the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) as a smokescreen to mask his mismanagement. 

In a tweet on Thursday, August 10, Mr Mahama said the Central Bank Governor is learning from the “bad behaviour” of the Finance Minister. 

“An incompetent Finance Minister damages the economy and uses Covid-19 and Ukraine/Russia war as cover-ups. A pliant Governor destroys the Central Bank and seeks to use the Domestic Debt Exchange (DDE) as a cover,” he tweeted. 

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has blamed GH₵53.1 billion for the total loss of GH₵60 billion that occurred as a result of government’s Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP).

According to a statement from the Bank, it stepped in to arrest a major economic and social crisis since the domestic auction was failing.

According to BoG, further downgrade of Ghana’s sovereign debt rating which blocked Ghana’s access to international capital market borrowing triggered a liquidity crisis, spilling over into a balance of payments crisis.

It added that “In two months, the Bank of Ghana lost US$500 million in reserves and built significant overdraft with the government as a result of the auction failures.

“It became clear that Ghana was on a path that was unsustainable, and the Government had to approach the IMF for support in July 2022. The IMF process included putting into place a credible programme of reform, which included restructuring the total government debt to sustainable levels.”

“Until the Staff Level Agreement with the IMF was reached in December 2022, the Bank of Ghana had to continue to provide the necessary support to keep the economy running.”

The statement further noted that “In line with the provisions of the Bank of Ghana Act, (Act 612), as amended, the Bank informed the Minister of the developments in its finances.

“The Minister reported this to Parliament as part of his briefing to Parliament on the IMF programme and the Domestic Debt Exchange.”

But Mr Mahama says the justification is unfounded.