West African central banks must maintain independence – Amissah-Arthur

The Vice-President, Mr Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, has challenged central banks in the West African sub-region to maintain their independence from political interference.

He said since the central banks were the bulwarks of rational decision, they must wean themselves from unnecessary political influence.

The Vice-President made the call when a delegation of the Committee of the Governors of the Central Banks in West Africa called on him at the Flagstaff House in Accra yesterday.

The delegation is in the country to attend the West Africa Monetary Zone (WAMZ) review meeting in Accra today.

However, the Vice-President was optimistic this time round that there was a strong political will for the central banks to push through.

“There is now a lot of strong commitment on political authority to converge,” Mr Amissah-Arthur said.

On whether the date set aside to converge, 2015, would come true, he said the challenges that confronted members, particularly during elections, had been overcome, saying, “The onus now lies on them to converge.”

The outgoing Chairman of the committee, Mr Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, expressed delight that Mr Amissah-Arthur, who was the  of the Bank of Ghana, had attained the high position of Vice-President, saying, “We are extremely happy that you are the Vice-President of Ghana.”

He commended Ghana for transforming its economy, adding, “We hope the economy will grow from strength to strength.”

The Director-General of the West Africa Monetary Institute (WAMI), Dr Abwaku Englama, said the results of the last quarter of this year had shown that “we are making progress”.

Source: Daily Graphic