We financed government’s budget in 2022 as part of crises management tool — BoG on printing over GHS44 billion fresh money

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has issued a press release to justify why it financed the government’s 2022 Budget.

In a release dated Thursday, February 9, BoG explained that it was a necessary tool employed to address difficulties that confronted the Ghanaian economy.

The explanation is coming after allegations that the Central Bank printed over GHS44 billion to finance the government’s budget for 2022.

“First, it will be important to recall the circumstances under which Government of Ghana decided to seek IMF support. Ghana had lost access to the International Capital Market, domestic revenue was significantly underperforming and not realized, pushing the state of government finances into near external and domestic default.

“Second, it must be recognized that the ongoing debt operations are part of the corrective measures designed to address the financing problem of the budget. Bank of Ghana financing was part of a crises management tool used in dealing with the difficulties of 2022,” the Bank of Ghana press release signed by its Secretary Sandra Thompson said.

According to BoG, the policy choices were not that of business as usual but rather a more challenging conduct of macroeconomic policy in the context of crisis.

The release adds that the government needed to finance critical expenditures for which the Bank of Ghana needed to provide the necessary financing to avert a disorderly default of both servicing for domestic and external debt including financing critical imports to keep the economy on the stable path.

Below is a copy of the Bank of Ghana press release: