##sh the full potential of the private sector to boost economic growth. as per the amended bank of ghana act, 2016 ( act 918 ), the operational independence is still guaranteed and the central bank will continue to employ all tools available to achieve the mandate of price stability. 14. in our quest to maintain sanity in the financial industry, the bank of ghana will continue to strengthen the licensing requirements, regulatory and supervisory frameworks of banks and non - bank financial institutions. together with other relevant stakeholders, we will work to build a stronger industry in a business - friendly environment by ensuring that banks have adequate capital to match their risk appetite. the bank is fully aware of its overall institutional responsibility of developing an integrated financial system that can provide diversified range of products and services to support a dynamic growing economy. as we mark this 60th anniversary, therefore, the bank commits to pursue this objective with professionalism and integrity, as we lay another foundation for the next phase of central banking in ghana. 15. in conclusion, mr. chairman, i should say that i consider it a privilege and an honour to be part of this important milestone of the nation ’ s central bank. and i welcome you all to take active part in the celebrations. thank you for your attention.

local currency. as a matter of fact, these developments explain why the two consecutive years of trade surpluses have not fully translated into current account surpluses. 6. the strong policy reforms introduced in the last 24 months — fiscal consolidation, complementing monetary policy stance, and financial sector reforms are yielding results. growth has rebound from a low of [ 3. 6 percent ] in 2016 ; inflation has dropped sharply from 15. 6 percent in 2016 to single digits ; fiscal deficit more than halved ; and supported by a very strong external payments position — trade surpluses for the first time in decades. all these together meant that we were able to build reserves to the tune of us $ 7. 6 billion ( in 2017 ) representing 4. 4 months of import cover. the level of reserves moved to us $ 9. 9 billion ( 5. 1 months of import cover ) following the recent sovereign bond issuance. all these reflect the attraction of the positive turnaround in the ghanaian economy to foreign investors, who have been contributing to finance the deficits. 7. the growing exposure to foreign investors also means that the country becomes susceptible to movements in global sentiments. recent trends in exchange rates 8. the remarkable turnaround in the performance of the cedi continued in the first few months of 2018 supported by improving macro fundamentals, strong external payments position alongside significant build up in international reserves. however, from the week beginning may 21, 2018 a combination of external factors such as us monetary policy normalization, sharp oil prices hikes, and a stronger us dollar impacted adversely on emerging market and frontier market economies, including ghana. this resulted in some portfolio reversals from emerging markets to take advantage of higher yields in the us. in ghana, we saw increased coupon repatriation, exerting additional pressures on the local currency. at end october 2018, the cedi had cumulatively depreciated by 7. 8 %. 9. the start of 2019 has been characterized by intense cedi volatility reflecting the following : first, as has always been the case, was the seasonal foreign exchange demand pressures fuelled mainly by importers and corporates ; second, investor sentiments weakened on concerns about the economic outlook as ghana was on the verge of exiting from the imf program. this triggered some outflows, putting pressure on the cedi. we also witnessed significant repatriation of coupons by non - resident investors, which contrasted past trends of re - investment of coupon proceeds