By Kwasi Kpodo

ACCRA, Jan 5 (Reuters) – A Bank of Ghana deputy governor has resigned, citing personal reasons but also saying his resignation was “in the broader interest.” Johnson Asiama, 49, was appointed in April 2016 to a four-year term as second deputy governor — the third highest position — by former President John Mahama, who lost an election to main opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo in December 2016.

“I submitted my resignation on Dec 23, (and) it took effect from the first working day of January. It is personal and it is in the broader interest,” he told Reuters on Friday. He gave no further details.

The resignation of Asiama, a monetary policy specialist, should have little or no impact on the Ghanaian financial sector nor on the bank’s monetary policy direction, analysts say.

Former governor Abdul-Nashiru Issahaku resigned in March last year, barely three months after the swearing-in of President Akufo-Addo’s government.

Akufo-Addo has since appointed as governor Ernest Addison, a lead economist at the African Development Bank who had previously worked at the Bank of Ghana.

The governor of Bank of Ghana and two deputies are appointed by the president, and although the bank is legally independent, the top three officers are often perceived to be loyal to the appointing political authority.

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