A Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana, Dr. Augustine Gockel, says the continuous exchange rate appreciation has forced many businesses to close down or adopt capital intensive methods of production. This, he said, has increased unemployment levels in the country.
Dr. Gockel was speaking at a lecture organized by the Department of Economics of the University of Ghana. Focusing on Ghana’s Quest for Sustainable Growth and Development Strategies, Dr. Gockel said the political instability the country experienced, was mainly due to poor performance of the exchange rate leading to structural imbalances like unemployment, high inflation and crowding out of the private sector among others. He said aid is effective, only when there is a good policy environment, noting that the impact of aid effectiveness is diminishing given the current economic environment.
The Director of Research of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Ernest Addison, said the appreciation of an exchange rate does not necessarily lead to bad performance of an economy but depends on what the economy does.
