General News of Monday, 24 March 2014

Source: The New Statesman

Dr Bawumia speaks on ailing economy tomorrow

Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, former Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana and Vice Presidential candidate of the NPP in the 2012 general elections will tomorrow deliver a lecture on the falling Ghanaian currency at the Central University College.

The Lecture will be held at the Miotso Campus of the Central University College and will be opened to the general public.

Dr Bawumia, who was recently appointed a Visiting Professor' of Economic Governance at the Central University College, is expected to deal extensively with the current economic difficulties the country finds itself in, especially the rapid, continuous depreciation of the local currency against all major international currencies.

The former Deputy Governor of Bank of Ghana is regarded as one of Ghana’s finest economists and has had varying experience with various international bodies, including the IMF and the African Development Bank.

He has come in for much praise in recent times as most of his predictions about the economy have eventually come to pass despite earlier vehement denials and counter claims from government spokespersons and NDC propagandists, led by the likes of Fiifi Kwetey.

Tomorrow’s lecture is Dr Bawumia’s first major task after his appointment as Visiting Professor and is expected to be graced by the hierarchy of the University, lecturers and students, as well as a cross section of the general public.

Dr Bawumia is an economist and banker by training and experience.

He holds a BSc. Economics (First Class Honours) degree from the University of Buckingham, UK, MSc. Development Economics from Oxford University and a PhD in Economics from Simon Fraser University (Canada). He also holds the Chartered Institute of Bankers (U.K) diploma (AC1B). He is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers (FC1B), Ghana.

Between 2009 and 2010, Dr Bawumia was a visiting professor at the University of British Columbia (Canada), and a Senior Associate Member of St. Antonys College, University of Oxford.

He also served as an Assistant Professor of Economics at Hankamer School of Business, Baylor University, Texas, USA (1996- 2000) where he received the Young Researcher Award in 1998.

Dr Bawumia also served as Lecturer in Monetary Economics, Accounting, Banking Law, and Banking Principles at the Emile Woolf College of Accountancy, London, England between 1988 and 1990.

He has published several articles in refereed journals on issues such as explaining African growth performance, transmission mechanism for monetary policy, the sequencing of fiscal reform during structural adjustment, the determination of interest rates spreads, determinants of exchange rates in Ghana, etc. He has also published a book on Monetary Policy and Financial Sector Reform in Africa.