Seth Terpker, former finance minister
• Mahama tackled woes of cedi with Exim Bank, former finance minister Seth Terkper has said
• He believes an Exim Bank is necessary to shore up the cedi
• Mr Terpker said John Dramani Mahama in 2016 established the Ghana Export and Import Bank to turn the economy into an export-driven one
Former Finance Minister, Seth Terkper, has said the John Mahama-led government introduced the Exim Bank to address the woes of the cedi.
According to him, his government took a cue from developed economies around the world establishing an Exim Bank to help their currency stability.
This, he said, contributed to the decision by the Mahama-led administration to put up the Ghana Export and Import (EXIM) Bank to give cedi denominated loans to businesses to enable them to produce their goods for export.
Speaking on Onua FM, the former finance minister said “One of the things I say about Mahama administration is that we looked at this thing and said what do we need to do differently? Cocoa farmers are bringing in dollars. We said we go and borrow from US Exim, Turkish Exim, China Exim, and Korea Exim.
“So we asked why can’t we also have our Exim. Because Exim is the bank that provides money for exporters just as COCOBOD helps cocoa farmers
He added that the more the businesses export, the more the country gets foreign exchange earnings to shore up the cedi.
“So we said those who were not in the cocoa sector, let us give them a bank like the others have also done so that they can give them the loans in cedis to produce cashew nuts just like we pay cedis to cocoa farmers to produce.
“You have the Exim bank now supporting them like COCOBOD supports. That way you are expanding your ability to get more dollars just like the other countries have done.”
The government of John Dramani Mahama in 2016 established the Ghana Export and Import (EXIM) Bank under (Act 911, 2016) to support the Government of Ghana’s quest for a feasible and sustainable export-led economy.
The bank is to facilitate the transformation of Ghana’s economy into an export-driven one.
It currently provides support in the following areas of the Ghanaian economy pharmaceutical manufacturing; poultry production; palm oil and cassava production and processing; pineapple and mango production; cashew, cocoa, shea butter production, and processing.