At an Institute of Economic Affairs policy forum, Benjamin Amoah said that the cumulative depreciation of the cedi, which stood at 7.2% at the start of January, had reduced to 1.29% by mid-April thanks to a number of policy changes, including the raising of the policy rate by 200 basis points to 18% and the hiking of reserve requirements.
To consolidate these gains, he said, the government should adhere to budgetary targets, improve revenue mobilisation by widening the tax net, diversify exports and make a greater effort to block foreign exchange leakages. He said that greater collaboration and communication between fiscal managers and the central bank would also be beneficial.
A Reuters report issued last week suggested, however, that the impact of central bank measures is unlikely to last. Analysts are predicting a further fall in the cedi over the next week because of the unmet dollar demand from importers.
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