Govt should not interfere with Bank

THE bid by the Government to change the Central Banking Act 2000 will force the bank out of power, hence, the country’s reserves will be left vulnerable to thieves and political cronies.
It will be wiser for the Government not to intervene in areas that the Central Bank Act 2000 has restricted from direct government influence.
That’s because if the Government has direct influence on the bank, it will allow corruption and political influence to creep in and manipulate the country’s foreign reserves for personal gain.
There is a high possibility that the move by the Government will not only breach the law but will most likely force the country into extreme high inflation within our economy and will not be controllable in the future.
A good example was Zimbabwe, who in 2008 suffered from an extremely high inflation due to printing more money.
When Zimbabwe’s economy was facing economic downturn, President Robert Mugabe decided to print more money to finance government expenditure which forced inflation to sky-rocket to the state where the buying power of money was low.
That resulted in people carrying bags of money just to purchase a loaf of bread.
If you can imagine a bag of money with a loaf of bread, then imagine how many bags of money you will need to do shopping.
It will be an unimaginable economic crises.
According to Central Bank governor Loi Bakani, the change in Central Banking Act will result in the loss of confidence and credibility on the independence of monetary policy management to block the credit rating of the country, adversely affecting our status in the international market and our bilateral and multilateral relations.
I am calling on the Government without fear or any politically-driven motive to reconsider their decision because such move will cause a long-lasting damage to the economy.
I am also calling upon Prime Minister James Marape to stay in his lane and not to interfere in areas that are restricted by law.

Chilubah Kelly, Via email