The Minister of State-designate for the Ministry of Finance, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam has dismissed suggestions that the appointment of a financial advisor to the Bank of Ghana by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) would interfere with the independence and regulatory work of the Central Bank.

The IMF appointed Leonard Chumo as a financial adviser to the Bank of Ghana upon request to provide technical assistance and help build the capacity of the banking supervision function in the country.

Funded by Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), the resident adviser is expected to provide technical assistance and help build the capacity of the banking supervision function in the country.

A press release from the Bank of Ghana indicated that “the Adviser’s placement is a continuation of cooperation in this area between the Bank of Ghana, the IMF, and SECO, that started as early as in 2015 and had already seen the assignment of a previous Adviser until 2018″.

Answering questions during his vetting by the Appointments Committee of Parliament, Amin Adam said there is nothing wrong with the appointment adding that the Bank of Ghana is willing to work with Mr Chumo.

“Whether somebody is appointed to sit at the Bank [of Ghana] or sit in Washington, that relationship already exists and particularly when the IMF is going to commit up to $3 billion to Ghana…I don’t see anything wrong with the IMF sending an officer.”