Executive Secretary of the Ghana Importers and Exporters Association has warned Ghanaians of worse economic predicaments if the government and the Bank of Ghana fail to find immediate solution to the country’s economic challenges.
Samson Asaki Awingobit accused the country’s Central Bank of failing to cushion the average citizen from the adverse impact of the increased bank policy rates and the sky rocketing inflation.
According to the Executive Secretary, the Central Bank has connived with commercial banks in the country to put citizens in a tight economic situation.
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Mr. Awingobit explains that commercial banks have resorted to lending to the government against lending to business citizens due to the cedi’s fragility against the dollar.
He said commercial banks saw opportunities in lending to the government than the citizens following recent monetary policy hikes by the Finance Ministry.
He says this new trend has made it difficult for many Ghanaian traders to unable to break even, not to talk of making profits.
“That is where the Central Bank has taken us to. Bank Ghana has connived with the commercial banks to put Ghanaians in that tight economic corner,” he said.
“So, you won’t even see commercial banks chasing people to come for loans because of where we are. They want the comfortability, if they give to government they’re going to get their money back,’’ he observed.
Mr. Awingobit said Ghanaians should embrace themselves for worse economic situation since the Bank of Ghana could not raise the $750 million needed to settle the Bulk Distribution Companies (BDCs) from the dollar auction this week.
“It is worse in the sense that you remember this week the Bank of Ghana made us understand that they’ve gone to auction dollar, they were looking for $750 million to be given to the BDCs to bring fuel yet when they went to do the auction they got only $95 million. They couldn’t get the 750 they were looking for. So, I can tell you that the centre cannot hold,” he lamented.
Samson Asaki Awingobit’s comments collaborated earlier submission of the President of the Ghana Union of Traders’ Association (GUTA).
Dr. Joseph Obeng had earlier argued that recent policy rates by the Central Bank favoured the banks at the detriment of the ordinary citizen.
