If you ‘Woyomise’ the economy the cedi will depreciate- Bawumia

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Created on Wednesday, 07 November 2012 00:00

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If you ‘Woyomise’ the economy the cedi will depreciate- Bawumia

06 November 2012

Dr Mahamadu Bawumia says pumping a lot of money into the economy for no work done is partly the reason for the depreciation of the country’s currency.

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Describing the phenomenon as "woyomisation of the economy" in reference to the payment of judgement debts to Alfred Woyome, Construction Pioneers and others, the NPP vice presidential candidate said the free fall of the country’s currency is an expression of the lack of confidence in the economy.

He was answering a question at the IEA Vice Presidential Candidate debate on how he will tackle the issue of the cedi depreciation if elected into office as vice president.

The substantive Vice President, Paa Kwesi Amissah Arthur in answering the same question, attributed the depreciation of the cedi to speculators in an election year who he said changed their monies from cedi into foreign currencies in order to secure their monies in the event of chaos in the election.

He said for the first time in the country’s history the country’s currency was depreciating below 20 per cent in an election year and the NDC government must be applauded.

He also cited the payment of the Single Spine Salary to public sector workers as well as payment of rewards to cocoa farmers as adding extra pressures on the country’s currency.

As part of measures to solve the problem, he said the government used its reserves it had accumulated to shore up the currency.

He also said the government incentivized people holding cedi currency in order to encourage more people to trade in the local currency.

But Dr Bawumia in a rebuttal said elections must not be blamed for the depreciation.

“When you mismanage your economy in an election year the cedi will depreciate,” he stated. He said huge payments of money to people for no work done is also to blame for the depreciation.

He argued the government must stop the excess borrowing and adopt a prudent macro economic strategy to stabilize the cedi.

From:Nathan Gadugah/Myjoyonline.com