Isaac Adongo, the Ranking Member on the Finance Committee in Parliament has responded to criticisms from the Minister of Finance, Dr. Amin Adam, stating he was telling Ghanaians the truth with his comments on the dollar.
Dr Amin Adam, criticised Isaac Adongo, for urging businesses who require dollars for their business operations to purchase some.
Speaking at a joint press conference with the Bank of Ghana and IMF officials on July 1, Dr Amin Adam criticised the Bolga Central MP for his comments and assured that the government remains fully committed to providing stability in the exchange rate.
He also cautioned persons speculating on the cedi’s current challenges to desist from the act. This, he said contributes to the woes of the cedi.
Reacting to the comments on Eyewitness News, Isaac Agongo challenged the notion that his advice constituted unpatriotic speculation as described by the finance minister.
“What did I say that is not true? You said that after what you have done, suddenly we should look forward to the dollar the following week, that was last week. Where is the dollar now? If you watch that video, you would have noticed that I was admonishing the people to desist from speculative buying but if you need money or dollars to do your business, don’t rely on what the finance minister said to fool you to your own detriment.
“So, if you needed dollars to do your business, by all means, you should go ahead and buy them. How is that unpatriotic?
“In any case are we not managing this economy to support businessmen as well? So, if I am asking the businessman to continue with his rational economic decision, how do you call that speculation…If the man needed a dollar to buy and it was GH¢15.5 and he didn’t buy it, today, it is GH¢15.7. Would the finance minister give him the additional monies that have been added to go and buy the dollar?” he quizzed.