Professor of Economics, Godfred Bokpin, has said there is no practical way to stop the cedi's devaluation with the Ghana Gold Coin.

A new investment programme called the Ghana Gold Coin was introduced by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) on Friday with the intention of decreasing dollar hoarding.

The project, which is a component of the domestic gold programme, aims to strengthen the local currency relative to major trading currencies and absorb surplus liquidity from the market.

Within two weeks, commercial banks will sell the coin, which will come in three denominations: one ounce, half an ounce, and quarter an ounce.

The pricing of the coins will be made available on the BoG website, according to a statement made by Governor Dr. Ernest Addison during the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on Friday, September 27.

Professor Bokpin says that, in spite of its objectives, the effort is not a comprehensive remedy for the depreciation of the cedi.

But Prof Bokpin in a report by citinewsroom.com said “I associate with the intervention from the central bank to the extent that there are very limited alternative avenues right now in the market and therefore any genuine attempt to offer alternatives would be welcomed and the next important question as you rightly asked is whether this is the solution.

“We have been waiting for this all this while and I think it is not too hard to look for that and to conclude that that is not the solution.”

“The reason is as much as we acknowledge that this is an alternative, the market is dry largely also because of confidence and all of that. This is not the solution.”

Professor Bokpin emphasized that prudent economic management was still required in addition to the coin's adoption.

“I want to believe that it is not packaged as a substitute for managing the economy well because the fundamental thriving factors pushing the cedi to lose its own against the major trading currencies when it comes to fiscal discipline when it comes to enhancing the capacity of the local economy, less import reliance, adding value to the export of your raw commodities, this doesn’t substitute for all of that,” he added.





KA

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