Gov’t Blows “Unnecessary” US$ 9 million On New Cedi Notes. -Swerves stranded Bank Depositors

In what has been described as an unnecessary waste of taxpayer’s funds, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta has admitted that the Akufo Addo administration blew a whopping US$8.97million on printing new cedi notes.

In November 2019, the cash strapped administration decided to print new GHC 100 and GHC 200 notes in what has courted a general angst from the Ghanaian public for its potential to trigger overspending and inflation.

According to the Finance Minister who appeared before Parliament today to answer questions, the amount “… is made up of $4.45 million and $4.53 million for the GHS100 and GHS200 notes respectively.”  Out of that, only $5.39 million has been paid to the contractor till date, the Finance Minister explained.

An angry Minority in Parliament had vowed to investigate the curious spending by the Akufo Addo administration, saying they will launch a probe if the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) wins the elections in December 2020.

According to the Minority, there was no justification or a tangible reason why the government would embark on new currency printing at the time.

The Bank of Ghana (BOG) came under fire for reportedly succumbing of the government’s wish by printing the currencies without following due processes.

Meanwhile, the Finance Minister has dashed the hopes of bank customers who cash were locked up in banks that were collapsed by the central bank. According to him, locked funds would be settled in five years.

This position is totally different from earlier explanation by the government after it sought Parliament to approve some GHC 15 billion to settle the stranded depositors.

Indeed, a few weeks ago the government announced that the receivers of these collapsed banks have started settling depositors funds locked up in the comatose banks.

This conflicting signals from the government is set to spark more agitation among these marooned depositors who have vowed to mobilise to vote out the Akufo Addo administration for reportedly deceiving them.