The Director and Head of Currency Management at the Bank of Ghana, Dominic Owusu, has cautioned Ghanaians on the economic and operational consequences of mishandling the national currency.

He stressed that poor currency care can affect both technology and the nation’s image.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Monday, October 27, Mr Owusu explained that dirty or damaged notes disrupt modern cash-handling technologies such as counting machines.

“For operational efficiency, when the currency is dirty, because of technological advancement today, you cannot even use counting machines and other things to make them efficient,” he said.

He further explained the economic implications, clarifying that Ghana does not print the cedi domestically for policy purposes.

“For economic policy, we don’t use the cedi to go and print the cedi; we use the forex, we use the dollar, we don’t print the cedi in Ghana. So if you are Ghanaian, any mishandling of the currency means that you are depreciating the currency,” he noted.

Highlighting a common cultural practice, Mr Owusu criticised the tendency of some Ghanaians to crumple notes when giving gifts.

“There is also a culture in Ghanaians that when I want to give a gift, because I don’t want to boast, I want to crumple it. Where did that come from? Why has that become a culture in Ghana?”

He warned that such practices damage the cedi, saying, “Any time you crumple the money, the money has some vanishing, some protection on it. Once you break it, fold it, crumple it, you destroy the cedi and it becomes cost to the nation. And it affects the image of the country and its dignity and somehow affects technological operations.”

The BoG is set to officially launch the “Cedi@60” celebration at the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC) on Tuesday, 29th October 2025.

The event will commemorate 60 years since the introduction of the Ghana cedi, the nation’s official currency and a symbol of economic independence and national pride.

Mr Owusu urged citizens to take greater care of the cedi, stressing that maintaining the currency’s integrity is not only a matter of national pride but also essential for economic stability and operational efficiency.