The Minority in Parliament has described the Bank of Ghana’s response to its allegations of the printing of new currency as a cover-up.

In a statement discrediting the central bank’s rejoinder on the matter, the Minority said the Bank of Ghana needed to “credit Ghanaians with some intelligence.”

“We expect the BoG to do the honourable thing by admitting to their transgressions and asserting their independence, as they are guaranteed under Ghanaian law.”

The Minority maintains that the money said to have been injected into the economy was done illegally, “hence the 33.8% growth in BoG’s balance sheet as at June 2022.”

In its defence, the Bank of Ghana said the amount of GH¢22.04 claimed to have been printed represented net claims on Government, and not new currency printed to support the Government’s budget.

According to the bank, these claims include stocks and bonds sold by commercial banks to it under repurchase agreements, IMF SDR allocation disbursed to the government, draw-down of the government’s own deposits held with the Bank of Ghana and negative balance on government’s account with the Bank of Ghana.

The Minority singled out the Bank of Ghana’s claim, noting that GH¢6.2 billion out of the GH¢22billion reflects on-lending of IMF SDR resources.

“In stark contrast, the Minister for Finance’s Mid-Year Review reports at the page in an issue that there was no such on-lending. Indeed, there was zero on-lending, contrary to the projected GH¢4.53billion,” it said.

The Minority also said the claim by the BoG that some GH¢2.8 billion out of the GH¢22billion was a drawdown from the government’s own deposit for GETFund, DACF and NHIF was dishonest.

“This cannot be factual considering that Appendix 2C at page 99 of the Finance Minister’s Mid-Year Review reports that all those statutory payments had long been released by the Ministry of Finance and spent by GETFund, DACF and NHIF.”