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BOG Manager defends currency
redenomination
Sunyani(B/A) April 04, GNA – Mr. Eugene Atikpo, Brong-Ahafo
Regional Manager of Bank of Ghana on Wednesday dismissed the
claim that the redenomination
of the cedi would be a waste of state resources if the
proposed West African common currency, Eco, is introduced.
He said the New Ghana Cedi “will rather realign our currency
with those of other ECOWAS member states”.
Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, the BOG
Regional Manager stressed; “it will be expedient for a
bicycle owner to keep maintaining the bicycle until a
promised motor car is delivered”.
Mr. Atikpo explained that the problems associated with the
current note regime, including transaction costs and general
inconvenience and high risks of carrying loads of currency,
were results of significant inflation and currency
devaluation in the past.
Other problems, the BOG regional manager said, are
difficulties in maintaining book-keeping and statistical
records, problems with accounting and data processing
software and the strain on the payments system like ATM
withdrawals.
Mr. Atikpo stated that historical analysis had shown that
redenomination of currencies had been very successful in an
environment of macroeconomic stability that had declining
inflation, stable exchange rate, fiscal prudence and stable
currency.
“This is the case of Ghana as of now, which compares
favourably with countries like Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and
Turkey that have successfully gone through such a programme”,
he stated.
The regional manager noted that, “in the absence of these
factors, zeros removed often find their way back into the
system, then benefits of redenomination become illusive and
credibility is lost”.
GNA
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