On Thursday, January 16, 2020, a Deputy Finance Minister, Charles Adu Boahen, inaugurated a 38-member committee christened the Foreign Exchange Developments Committee with the task of reviewing the existing forex regime, and come up with workable solutions to foster a stable exchange regime.
The Committee, which held its first meeting right after it was inaugurated, has come under a lot of criticisms from the public.
Some argue that the committee is a duplication of the BoG’s mandate, while others have said it is needless.
Here are six things that may be useful to note about the committee:
1. Establishing the committee
The establishment of the committee was directed by Cabinet and endorsed by Parliament.
Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, addressing Parliament on March 28, 2019, said: “The President has directed that I investigate the structural causes for the depreciation of the cedi and to propose measures to address the situation. The Governor and I will put a bipartisan committee together to proceed immediately.”
He was in parliament to make a statement on Ghana’s exit of a three-year IMF bail-out programme, the Eurobond success as well as the depreciation of the Ghana cedi.
2. Membership
The committee is made up of 38 persons drawn from 26 different institutions. The Finance Ministry dominates with seven members while there are three people from the Bank of Ghana.
3. Chairmanship
The Finance Minister chairs the committee whose membership includes the Trade and Industry Minister, Alan Kyerematen and Owusu Afriyie-Akoto, Agriculture Minister.
4. Resignation
Even before the committee’s work takes off, a member, Benjamin Kpodo, MP for Ho Central, has declined membership. He argued that he did not consent to his name being added to the list.
5. Final Report
The committee’s final report will be presented to the government’s Economic Policy Coordinating Committee (EPCC) co-chaired by BoG Governor, Dr. Ernest Addison and Ken Ofori-Atta. The EPCC is a high-level technical committee mandated to provide strategic policy direction for effective coordination and implementation of the Government’s economic programme and budget.
6. Terms of Reference
According to the Finance Minister, the terms of reference of the FX Committee will be effective from July 2019 and will continue until August 2021. The committee’s mandate is to review, assist and provide recommendations on how to improve management, transparency and the long-term structure of Ghana’s foreign exchange flows.