{"id":98918,"date":"2025-10-17T03:56:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T03:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=98918"},"modified":"2025-10-17T03:56:00","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T03:56:00","slug":"we-didnt-manipulate-the-market-we-saved-it-bog-governor-defends-fx-actions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=98918","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We didn\u2019t manipulate the market, we saved it\u2019 \u2013 BoG Governor defends FX actions"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>2 Minute, 51 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
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Bank of Ghana (BoG) Governor, Dr Johnson Asiama Pandit, has dismissed allegations that the central bank manipulated the foreign exchange market, insisting its recent actions were necessary to prevent a total market collapse.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the International Monetary Fund at the ongoing IMF\/World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C., on October 16, He said the central bank\u2019s interventions between the second and third quarters were triggered by heavy foreign exchange outflows linked to outstanding payments and investor exits.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, there were allegations about whether we were intervening in the market,\u201d he said. \u201cBut that was not exactly the case. Remember, between the second and third quarters, we had to make a number of lump-sum payments. There were all these large arrears in payments to some of the IPPs. These were billions of US dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"'We<\/figure>\n

He explained that some domestic bondholders affected by the debt exchange programme also sought to exit the market after the cedi appreciated, prompting the central bank to facilitate those transactions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had to allow them to go. And so we did a lot of lumpy payments between July and August,\u201d Dr Pandit said. \u201cSo you might have seen some bit of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The governor revealed that the situation was compounded by a temporary decline in remittance inflows, one of Ghana\u2019s biggest sources of foreign exchange supply.<\/p>\n

\u201cRemittance inflows are another huge source of FX injection \u2014 you are looking at over six billion US dollars per year,\u201d he explained. \u201cHowever, immediately after the currency appreciated, we saw a decline.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"'We<\/figure>\n

Dr Pandit said that at the height of the pressure, the interbank foreign exchange market had virtually dried up, forcing the Bank of Ghana to step in.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe central bank needed to step in and meet all those lumpy payments. The interbank market had dried up during that time, and so the central bank needed to provide that support,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I\u2019m happy to say that the interbank FX market has come back.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the Bank of Ghana has since written to mining firms to channel their inflows through commercial banks, a move that is gradually reviving activity in the market.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are beginning to see some pickup in interbank FX market activity,\u201d he noted. \u201cWith that, the central bank wouldn\u2019t have to be that present.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr Pandit clarified that the only exception to this directive is gold inflows, which continue to be managed under the Gold for Reserves framework.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo give you an example, as of yesterday, we had committed to make available $150 million,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis morning, when I checked, the market had picked up only $90 million, so $60 million automatically goes into our reserves. Same thing Tuesday \u2014 we made available 150 million, and the market picked up less than half. So automatically it goes into our reserves.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"'We<\/figure>\n

He stressed that the central bank has not flooded the market with dollars or tried to control prices, but rather acted to ensure stability.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do not over-support the markets at all,\u201d he emphasised. \u201cAll we seek to do is to limit the volatilities in the markets, to ensure that we have that smooth dynamics in the market. And that\u2019s the framework we will maintain going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr Pandit maintained that without the central bank\u2019s timely intervention, Ghana\u2019s foreign exchange market would have seized up, with devastating consequences for businesses and consumers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"'WeBank of Ghana (BoG) Governor, Dr Johnson Asiama Pandit, has dismissed allegations that the central bank manipulated the foreign exchange market, insisting its recent actions were necessary to prevent a total market collapse.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":98919,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1904,2304,10672,1906,1883,10,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-banking-and-finance","category-bog-governor","category-dr-johnson-asiama-pandit","category-hp-news-5","category-national","category-politics","category-popular"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=98918"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98918\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/98919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=98918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=98918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=98918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}