President John Dramani Mahama has said Ghana’s currency is long overdue for a security refresh to strengthen banknotes against counterfeiting.
According to the President, currencies need to be periodically updated with improved security features to make it increasingly difficult for criminals to reproduce them.
Speaking during the Resetting Ghana Tour in the Upper East Region, President Mahama said the responsibility for determining whether and when the cedi should be redesigned rests with the Bank of Ghana.
Every country, every ten years, you are supposed to refresh your currency because if you use the same currency for too long, people learn how to counterfeit it,” he said.
He stressed that the continuous improvement of security features on banknotes was necessary to keep pace with increasingly sophisticated counterfeiting techniques.
And so this particular currency is long overdue for refreshing,” President Mahama stated.
The President disclosed that he was aware of plans by the Governor of the Bank of Ghana to refresh the currency, adding that the central bank would announce the details to the public at the appropriate time.
I know the governor has plans to refresh the currency and I am sure that at the appropriate time, the Bank of Ghana will let Ghanaians know what they are doing about it,” he said.
Currency refresh not redenomination
A refresh of the cedi would primarily involve upgrading the security features and possibly aspects of the physical design of Ghana’s banknotes to make counterfeiting more difficult.
Such an exercise would not, in itself, alter the value of the cedi or amount to a redenomination of the currency.
For consumers and businesses, stronger security features could improve protection against counterfeit notes and enhance confidence in cash transactions.
President Mahama, however, cautioned against equating the physical security of the currency with its economic strength.
He argued that the performance and value of the cedi are fundamentally linked to the management of the wider economy.
What I would say is that the cedi today is stronger than it was in the past because of good economic management,” President Mahama said.
He attributed the cedi’s recent performance against major international currencies to what he described as improved economic management and government policies.
Your currency is as strong as your economic management and because of the good policies we put in place, the cedi is holding its own against other major currencies,” he added.
President Mahama assured Ghanaians that government would continue to implement policies aimed at strengthening the economy and supporting the stability of the cedi.
He said the timing and specific details of any currency refresh would ultimately be determined and communicated by the Bank of Ghana.
We will continue to make sure that the economy bolsters the strength of the cedi. But, like I said, at the appropriate time, the Governor will apprise us of any plans that he has for replacing the currency,” he said.
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