Economist proposes independent probe into BoG’s losses

Godfred Bokpin, a professor of economics at the University of Ghana, has asked for an impartial panel to look into the GH 60 billion loss the Bank of Ghana (BoG) reported in 2022.

Speaking on PM Express on JoyNews, he said that future administrations and BoG executives may follow the conclusions and suggestions from the probes to prevent such enormous loss.

He said that although the Bank of Ghana’s actions to finance the government and make other judgments helped to mitigate the effects of the economic crisis, there were still other ways to prevent the enormous loss.

“We needed the fiscal side to respond appropriately…the extent to which central bank exposed itself raises serious questions. If you look at the level of losses the central bank has taken, the implication for the moral authority of the bank and how stakeholders will view the central bank, I think we could have done better to limit that exposure.”

The implications of this were foreseen by economists months ago, according to Prof. Bokpin, who also urged the Bank of Ghana to take aggressive measures to ensure that such a grave impact was averted.

“I think we will probably need an independent body to investigate all of this and make proposals and reforms going forward. It is important because as a lender of last resort, you don’t render it to this extent.

“The leadership of the central bank had the obligation to preserve that and I think that was done. What we are talking about goes beyond just one regime, so we can learn from this as that as a country,” Prof Bokpin noted.

Meanwhile, Nana Otuo Acheampong, a banking consultant, claims that the central bank cannot alone be held responsible for the GH60 billion loss.

Instead of concentrating merely on the size of the number, he asserts that it’s equally crucial to comprehend the underlying causes of the loss.

The financial expert then emphasized that the Domestic Debt Exchange Program is responsible for a sizeable chunk of the GH60 billion loss, or an astounding 80% of it.

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