The Bank of Ghana (BOG) has refuted claims by the Minority Ranking Member on the Finance Committee in Parliament, Hon. Cassiel Ato Forson that BOG has printed an amount of GHC 22.04 billion to finance the government’s budget without parliamentary approval.
This follows the 2022 Mid-Year Fiscal Policy Review which was presented to Parliament by the Minister for Finance on Monday, July 25, 2022.
In a statement released by BOG, the amount of GHC 22.04 billion represents net claims on Government, and not new currency printed to support the Government’s budget.
According to BOG, the net claims of GHC22.04 billion represents the following four components:
“GoG Stocks and bonds sold by commercial banks to Bank of Ghana under repurchase agreements, by which banks routinely manage their liquidity positions; IMF SDR allocation disbursed to government through Bank of Ghana; Draw-down of government’s deposits held with Bank of Ghana; Negative balance on government’s account with Bank of Ghana at a point in time, and self-liquidated as new government deposits are credited to the account.”
The BOG, therefore, assured the public that in carrying out its functions as a banker to the government, it is committed to complying fully with all relevant legal requirements.
“Bank of Ghana’s operations are constantly guided by the requirements of the Bank of Ghana Act, 2002 (Act 612) as amended. As indicated in the Minister’s speech, should the need arise for emergency financing by the Bank of Ghana in line with the BOG Act, the Bank of Ghana, as was done in the case of the Covid-19 Bond of 2020, will follow the processes prescribed by the Act,” the statement added.
