The Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr Johnson Asiama, has appealed to the public to disregard projections and speculations bandied about by some black market forex traders, popularly called ‘Zabarma’.
He warned that such speculative activities do not support the data published by the Bank of Ghana after its periodic Monetary Policy Committee meetings.
Speaking at the Graphic Business/Stanbic Bank Breakfast meeting on July 15, 2025, Dr. Asiama expressed surprise that some Ghanaians form their expectations of the cedi from uninformed sources and begin to liquidate their funds out of panic.
“It appears in Ghana the way we form our expectations when it comes to the exchange rate is to listen to the Zabarma, is to listen to the Alhaji in the corner. I think that’s where the problem is”, he said.
He pointed out that a cursory observation of the data published by the Bank of Ghana shows the predictions and the expectations of the black market is far from the reality.
“You have a country whose trade surplus has doubled compared to last year. If you have a country which Current Account has increased from a mere 66 million dollars to over 2 billion dollars in the first quarter of this year, why are you surprised when the exchange rate is showing stability? Look at the data”, he argued.
He urged the media to focus on the data when forming projections and not rely forecast not supported by the fact.
“It appears it all about what somebody thinks and then we all go in that directions. So tomorrow the moment the Zabarma man says the cedi will start depreciating then everybody will start liquidating. Just look at the data. These things are macro-economic variables”.
Dr. Asiama insisted that movements in the exchange rate is a normal phenomenon that occurs as a result of the market variables.
This, he said helps the currency against external shocks to help stabilize the cedi.
“You notice that in Ghana, we say the exchange rate is going down, and so it keeps going, it keeps going. You notice that trend? I kept saying that, no, no, no, no, allow the exchange rate to move. Today it may rise, tomorrow it may come down. Because it’s an endogenous variable. When it moves, it’s actually protecting the country against external shocks, so it must move. But it appears it’s all about what somebody thinks, and then we all go in that direction”, he said.
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