Parliament vets Amissah-Arthur for Vice President

Accra, Aug. 6, GNA – Mr Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana who was been nominated fVice President, on Monday faced grilling by the Appointments Committee of Parliament for over three hours to prove his competence to take the position.

Committee members bombarded the economist with questions on the falling value of the cedi, corruption, the general economic situation, nationality, political credentials and managerial skills.

Mr Amissah-Arthur was appointed by the late President John Evans Atta Mills as Governor of the Bank of Ghana on the October 1, 2009 to replace Dr Paul Acquah who had retired.

Prior to his appointment as Governor of the Central Bank, he worked as a private consultant/economist.

Mr Amissah-Arthur had worked at the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), where he was a research assistant from 1974 to 1975.

He was PNDC Deputy Secretary for the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and was the Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning from 1993 to 2000.

As PNDC Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (February 1986 to March 1993), he was a member of the Economic Management Team that designed and implemented the Economic Recovery Programme.

Mr Amissah-Arthur had direct responsibility for the preparation of the annual Public Investment Programme, the management of the national budget as well as management of bilateral and multilateral assistance to the country.

After leaving public office in 1997, Mr Amissah-Arthur worked on a number of consultancy assignments.

As Senior Economist for the Sigma One Corporation, Ghana from 1998 to 2000 he helped design and implement the “Ghana Policy Dialogue Project”, a USAID-funded project that provided advisory services to the Government of Ghana and the “Trade and Investment Reform Project”, which aimed to enhance Ghana's export competitiveness.

In 2001 and 2002, he was hired on an assignment on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark.

Mr Amissah-Arthur co-authored a review of Ghana's public financial management system, titled: “Guidance Note: Financial Integration into Relevant Ghanaian Structures” a report which has been used as a training manual for new employees into the Finance Ministry.

He was among the team of technocrats who managed Ghana's structural adjustment programme since 1980 that helped in reviving the collapsing Ghanaian economy.

Mr Amissah-Arthur had also served as a Consultant for the World Bank, trained the staff of The Department of State for Agriculture of the Gambia in 1997 in initiating a review of the World Bank-funded Medium-term Expenditure Programme.

He was the consultant at all stages of the Netherlands' Government- funded Technical/Vocational Education project for Ghana's Ministry of Education in association with TNW Export BV of Waalwijk, Netherlands).

Mr Amissah-Arthur has also served on a number of Boards and Committees including the Boards of the Bank of Ghana, Ghana Commercial Bank, Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, Ghana National Procurement Agency, Ghana Supply Commission, and the Academic Board and Finance Committee of the University of Ghana.

He was born in Cape Coast on April 29, 1951, had his General Certificate of Education "O " Level at the Mfantsipim School in Cape Coast from 1964 to 1971.

He proceeded to the University of Ghana, where he was awarded Bachelor of Science and Masters of Science in Economics in 1974 and 1980. He was also a lecturer at the Anambra State College of Education, Awka Anambra State, Nigeria.

He is married with two children.
GNA