Earlier passage of BoG’s Amendment Bill could have prevented haircuts – Dr. Asiama

The Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr. Johnson Asiama, has said that if the Bank of Ghana (BoG) Amendment Bill 2025 had been in place earlier, the financial haircuts of 2022 might have been avoided.

Speaking at a New Year media briefing on Friday, January 16, Dr. Asiama reflected on the role of legislation in strengthening the central bank and protecting the economy.

“If we had that in 2022, maybe, just maybe, we wouldn’t have had the haircuts; we would have been compelled probably to seek help from the IMF more timely. And today, the results would have been different,” he said.

The Governor said the passage of the BoG Amendment Bill 2025 represented a major step in enhancingthe Central Bank’s independence, improving accountability, and reinforcing safeguards around government financing.

He added that these reforms, alongside progress in payments and digital finance, had helped restore macroeconomic stability, improve coordination between monetary and fiscal authorities, and place the economy on a firmer footing.

Dr. Asiama stressed that the gains were “hard-won” and achieved through discipline, restraint, and institutional effort, noting that the BoG has a continuing responsibility to protect stability and remain faithful to public trust.

The haircuts Dr. Asiama referenced occurred amid Ghana’s negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2022 for a possible bailout.

At the time, projections from financial analysts painted a grim picture for investors as the cedi depreciated and the cost of living rose. Some feared that part of the debt restructuring would involve haircuts, meaning investors could lose portions of their funds in government instruments such as treasury bills or public funds.

Then-President Nana Akufo-Addo had assured citizens that the government would take steps to protect their investments, pledging that no individual or institutional investor, including pension funds, would lose their money amid ongoing IMF talks.

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