Ghana’s Economy Was ‘Wobbly’ When John Dramani Mahama Assumed Office - Johnson Asiama

The Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Johnson Asiama, has described Ghana’s economy as unstable at the time the administration of President John Dramani Mahama assumed office, citing high inflation and exchange rate volatility as key indicators of the challenges confronting policymakers.

Speaking in an interview with Bernard Avle on The Point of View on Channel One TV on Wednesday, March 25, Dr Asiama compared the situation to a patient who had undergone prolonged treatment before being handed over to a new doctor.

“It’s been a lot of work, a lot of thinking, and a lot of listening. We listened more to Ghanaians and designed our policies accordingly. When we came in, we did a lot of preparatory work and knew exactly what we were walking into. It was like having a patient who had been under treatment for a long time by another doctor,” he explained.

Dr Asiama pointed specifically to elevated inflation levels and exchange rate instability as major macroeconomic pressures facing the country at the time. He noted that excessive liquidity injected into the financial system in earlier years made policy responses more difficult.

“Remember the macroeconomic situation at the time—high inflation and exchange rate volatility. From 2022, a lot of liquidity was injected into the system. It was like a patient who had received excessive blood transfusions. Too much liquidity had been injected; no matter what you do, it won’t be effective,” he said.

According to him, the central bank had to implement measures to reduce excess liquidity in the system as part of efforts to stabilise the economy, though the process came with significant costs.

“We had to set to work to drain the excess liquidity from the system. That has come at a cost,” he added.

His remarks form part of ongoing discussions about Ghana’s macroeconomic recovery strategy and the policy interventions being implemented to stabilise inflation, strengthen the cedi, and restore confidence in the economy