Ghana can have strong currency if only economy is managed well – Govt told

Director of Research at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) Dr. John Kwakye has said prudent economic management is what will strengthen the Cedi.

According to him, the Cedi’s saviour lies in Ghana’s policies and leveraging its resources and capacities.

Earlier he indicated that another re-denomination of Ghana’s currency, the Cedi, is about to happen following the rising rate of inflation and also the depreciation of the Dollar.

Unless the managers of the economy rein in inflation and depreciation, Ghanaians should expect another re-denomination, he intimated.

The August inflation has reached 33.9 percent. This is a 2.2 percent increase from the July figure of 31.7 percent.

Dr. Kwakye tweeted “Phasing out 1 and 2 cedi notes from the economy as planned by BoG, will not only put pressure on the 5 cedi notes but will also further fuel inflation.

In July 2007, the Cedi (¢) was redenominated to the Ghana Cedi (GH¢), such that ten thousand Cedis was now equivalent to one Ghana Cedi.

The re-denomination did not affect the intrinsic value of the currency – “the value will be the same”.

Two of the reasons given by the Central Bank for the re-denomination were the increasing difficulty in maintaining accounting and statistical records; and problems with accounting and data processing software.