By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama has picked a new governor for the West African country’s central bank, a nomination subject to confirmation by the Council of State, the presidency said on Friday.
Johnson Asiamah has worked at the Bank of Ghana for more than 23 years and served as the second deputy governor of the central bank from 2016 to 2017.
“He has, over the years, demonstrated commitment to implementing sound monetary and exchange rate policy, fostering a stable financial system, as well as promoting accelerated economic growth in Ghana,” the presidency said in a statement.
The current governor, Ernest Addison, is due to retire from the bank at the end of March and will commence retirement leave on Feb. 3.
Mahama, sworn in this January, pledged to overcome public discontent by boosting the economy and creating much-needed jobs.
He inherited an economy emerging from its worst economic crisis in a generation, with turmoil in the vital cocoa and gold industries.
His administration has yet to formally publish its economic policy plans, which were cited by the central bank on Monday as one reason it kept its key lending rate unchanged.
The Bank of Ghana targets inflation of 8%, with a margin of error of 2 percentage points on either side. However, the annual rate remains well above that, at over 23% in December.
The bank said on Monday that its latest forecasts showed it would take longer for inflation to return within the 6%-10% range.
