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The Governor of the Central Bank, Dr. Ernest Addison says in the midst of global economic crisis which threatened global economies around the world and many central banks, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) was able to play its role well as a last resort to the Government of Ghana.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday to throw more light on recent issues about the bank including its reported losses, the Governor rather defended their prudent management record which, to him, made it possible for the bank to cushion the economy when the international financial market shut its door to Ghana following the effects of the global Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.

"At the end of 2019, through prudent economic management, macroeconomic fundamentals had been well anchored. The Bank of Ghana reported profits of GHC 1.6 billion in 2019, GHC 1.5 billion in 2020 and GHC 1.4 billion in 2021," Dr. Addison said while highlighting the positive record of the bank prior to the unexpected global crises.

He said the policy objective then was to consolidate the gains made and to steer the economy towards achieving growth as well as establishing all the needed structures for transitioning from a frontier economy to a full-fledged emerging market economy.

But covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, he said, drew everything back.

"We all witnessed the devastating effects of the pandemic and the uncertainty this disequilibrium created globally. Ghana was not spared the effects of the pandemic," the Governor noted.

The Central Bank Governor added that the precarious situation required a clear public policy initiatives by the government to protect lives and livelihood "at all costs" and "protecting lives and livelihood at all costs required exceptional financing".

The Central Bank Governor added that, fortunately for Ghana, the intervention of global financial institutions through the IMF's Rapid Credit Facility and the World Bank ensured a portion of the financing was met.

He further explained that with limited external funding available to the government, the Central Bank had to intervene in the emergency situation.

"The Bank of Ghana, following prudent management, had built enough buffers and policy space, which enabled it to trigger the emergency financing exception under Section 30(6)) of the Bank of Ghana Act, Act 612 as amended, to provide the needed additional financing support through the purchase of GHC10 billion of the Government’s Covid-19 bonds, which helped to close the exceptional financing gap."

"These interventions from the Bank of Ghana, the IMF, and the World Bank, helped the government to navigate and effectively contain the devastating effects of the pandemic."

"The Bank of Ghana was able to step in with the support to the economy until the IMF programme was concluded, because of the policy buffers built, following years of prudent management.

"This is a reflection of the resilience of the Bank of Ghana for being able to rise up to the occasion to play its statutory role as the lender of last resort to support the economy during the crisis."