Diversify your savings with caution – Dr. Bawumia informs WAMZ countries

Company News from Saturday, February 9, 2019

Source: Graphic.com.gh

2019-02-09

Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia warned members of the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) to be wary of the impact of external shocks as they diversify their economies and markets. .

Developments in the euro area, which have highlighted the need for countries to achieve and maintain the level of macroeconomic stability required before and after the formation of the monetary union, should guide countries in the design and implementation of a sound framework the WAMZ.

"As you discuss progress in achieving our collective goals, put the debate in the global context, in relation to the challenges facing the area," he said.

Convergence Council

Dr Bawumia, who gave this advice at the opening of the 41st Meeting of the WAMZ Convergence of Ministers of Convergence and Central Bank Governors in Accra, therefore stressed the need for Member States to To encourage trade between them, as well as to intensify efforts to eliminate non-tariff barriers.

The meeting will take stock and deliberate on the way forward to strengthen the monetary and economic integration of the WAMZ and the broader ECOWAS agenda. These are the finance ministers and central bank governors of WAMZ member countries.

The Vice-President noted that, despite the many steps taken by the WAMZ, its implementation process had met with many challenges and for this reason, "we had to postpone the launch of the single currency several times".

He added that a positive progressive outcome of the meeting would therefore mark the commitment of the member countries and guide their collective path towards the creation of a monetary union.

He added that Ghana, for its part, had met three of the four macroeconomic convergence criteria and all the secondary criteria.

Harmonization of policies

Mr. Bawumia said the WAMZ continues to embrace a gradual and sustainable expansion of digital transactions, characterized by traditional paper methods.

However, he warned that "by integrating digitization into the financial ecosystem, we should be aware of the corporate governance challenges that could threaten the stability of the system as a whole".

"Strong corporate governance in the area under the auspices of the WAMZ Supervisory College should be paramount to strengthen the financial sector of member countries," he said.

Mr. Bawumia praised the WAMZ payment system development project which, he said, had created the necessary platform for efficient and effective payment systems in The Gambia, Guinea, Liberia, Somalia and the rest of the world. Sierra Leone and compatible with the payment systems of Ghana and Nigeria.

He described the development as important in the integration process, adding that the next step was a pan-African payment systems initiative led by Afri Exim Bank, which would link WAMZ payment systems and then extend it. to the subregion and others. of Sub-Saharan Africa.

ECOWAS Commission

Dr. Kofi Konadu Apraku, Commissioner for Macroeconomic Policy at ECOWAS, said that Ghana had expressed its commitment to the newly created special fund for the roadmap for the single currency program by paying $ 1 million per year. subscription.

He added that the main challenge was the budget deficit as a percentage of GDP, as only five countries fulfilled this criterion.