Dr. Ernest Addison, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana has stated that he will not resign from his role.
He said the calls by the Minority in Parliament and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for him to resign is not tenable.
Dr Addison in an interview with international business website, Central Banking, said he is not stepping down, describing the protest by the NDC as “completely unnecessary.”
“The Minority in parliament have many channels to channel their grievances in civilised societies, not through demonstrations in the streets as hooligans,” Addison added in reference to the #OccupyBoGProtest.
Addison also rejected the claims by the Minority that he printed money to finance the lavish lifestyle of the ruling government.
According to him, the BoG provided monetary financing during 2020 and 2022, to meet specific crises which he says is legal under the central bank law.
The Central Bank posted losses totalling GHC60.81 billion for the 2022 financial year as against a profit of GHC1.23 billion recorded in 2021.
The losses were a result of the government’s domestic debt restructuring activities and the depreciation of the cedi, among other effects.
The governor also clarified that the BoG decided to start the new headquarters in 2019. This was “when the bank was profitable and appropriated some of its profits for the new headquarters,” he said. “It was not a decision taken during a crisis.”
The protest was held on Tuesday to denounce the economic crisis as a result of what the protesters termed poor monetary policy by the BoG.