Ghana remains committed to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)’s single currency agenda despite the current economic challenges facing the country, Chief Director of the Ministry of Finance, Ms Eva Esselba Mends, has said.
She said the country’s economic challenges would be reversed and sustained macroeconomic stability re-established.
Mrs Mends stated this at the 53rd meeting of the Technical Committee of the member states of the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) as part of the 2023 Mid-Year Statutory Meeting of the West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM), West African Monetary Agency (WAMA) and West African Monetary Institute (WAMI), which began on September 5, 2023 and would end on September 15, 2023 and being hosted by the Ministry of Finance under the auspices of the Bank of Ghana.
As part of the programme, Ghana was elected to chair the Technical Committee (TC) for the next six months.
The Gambia chaired the Committee for the last six months.
Ms Mends, who was the representative of the host country, said Ghana’s performance on the harmonised convergence criteria had always been above average.
The Chief Director of the Ministry of Finance said Ghana’s economic growth remained positive despite the significant impact of multiple crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia-Ukraine war.
“Government remains focused and resolute on restoring macroeconomic stability. Ghana, like many other economies, continues to contend with record-level inflationary pressures. Nonetheless, outlook in the near-term is positive as inflation has peaked,” she stated.
Ms Mends emphasised that the government was committed to bringing inflation under control through prudent monetary policy measures, including the elimination of monetary financing of the budget as well as the on-going fiscal adjustments, adding that those efforts at securing stability would greatly enhance the prospects of economic integration in the sub-region.
The Chief Director stressed that in spite of the economic crises facing the ECOWAS region, such spiralling inflation, growing public debt and political instability, the region must “Urgently and deliberately pursue the economic integration of our sub-region and rake in the extensive benefits for our peoples”.
She said the 53rd meeting of the Technical Committee of the WAMZ was timely as it provided the platform for deliberations of issues of common interest, particularly the goal of a single currency for ECOWAS.
The Director-General of WAMI, DrOlorunsolaOlowofeso, in his remarks, said the meeting would deliberate on public debt-economic growth revenue nexus in the WAMZ, macroeconomic and convergence issues in the WAMZ.
According to him, all the member states of WAMZ achieved the convergence criterion gross external reserves, but missed the inflation criterion as of the end of last year.
“Overall, the Zone’s performance has declined in the review period, compared with the previous period last year,” DrOlowofeso stated.
BY KINGSLEY ASARE
