Dr. Stephen Amoah, the deputy minister of finance, has clarified that his statement that the depreciation of the Cedi is a ritual issue was misinterpreted.

Dr. Amoah expressed regret at what he perceived to be a calculated attempt by certain individuals in the media, who he claimed are well-known for taking quotes from interview subjects out of context.

The Nhyiaeso MP stated, “We have a country where anybody says anything and they [some media persons] take a part and do stories and create a whole thing out of it and a time will come when it will be difficult to freely grant interviews,” in an interview with Bernard Avle on the Citi Breakfast Show on Citi FM.

Dr. Amoah stated, “I agree that Cedi depreciation is a ritual problem,” in response to a reporter’s question on Wednesday, May 29 about the best way to address the depreciation of the Cedi. It has nothing to do with a specific government. It’s a nationalistic problem that requires nationalistic solutions.

“As long as we continue to be an importer-driven economy, we will face difficulties with the Cedi, as we import nearly everything,” he continued. But hopefully, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, if he returns next year, we will have a long-term plan to address the devaluation of the Cedi.

Dr. Amoah attempted to elucidate his remarks from Wednesday, stating that he was suggesting the best way and individuals to tackle the Cedi’s collapse.

“I went to monitor the voter registration exercise and they [media] asked me about the dollar and the Cedi’s depreciation and all that I said was that from now till December, we are doing our best to stabilise the Cedi, which I said is a short-term approach, but we need a long-term approach to resolve the issue through a framework, and then I proposed that to achieve that, we will design a long-term approach when Dr Mahamudu Bawumia is elected president.”