President John Dramani Mahama says Ghana’s cedi is “long overdue for refreshing”, citing the need to periodically update the security features on banknotes to stay ahead of counterfeiters.

The President made the remarks during his tour of the Upper East Region, where he explained that currencies must be periodically refreshed to make it more difficult for counterfeiters to replicate them.

“Every country, every 10 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.

According to President Mahama, updating security features allows central banks to stay ahead of efforts to reproduce banknotes.

“From time to time, you have to change the security features on your currency and refresh the currency so that it will take another five years, six years for the counterfeiters to be able to determine the security features and now start being able to produce their own currency,” he explained.

He consequently described Ghana’s current currency as “long overdue for refreshing”, while indicating that the Bank of Ghana is considering the matter.

“I know the governor has plans to refresh the currency and I'm sure that at the appropriate time the Bank of Ghana will let Ghanaians know what they are doing about it,” President Mahama said.

President Mahama stressed that any decision to redesign or replace the cedi rests with the Bank of Ghana.

A currency refresh would involve updating security features on the banknotes to strengthen their protection against counterfeiting. It would not, by itself, alter the value of the cedi or amount to a redenomination.

The President did not provide details of when the Bank of Ghana could introduce any changes.

President Mahama also used the occasion to defend the recent performance of the cedi, attributing its relative stability to what he described as improved economic management.

“What I must say is that the cedi today is stronger than it was in the past because of good economic management. Your currency is as strong as your economic management,” he said.

He said government would continue implementing policies aimed at strengthening the economy and supporting the cedi.

“Because of the good policies we put in place, the cedi is holding its own against other major currencies. And so we'll continue to make sure that the economy bolsters the strength of the cedi,” he added.

He reiterated that details of any proposed currency replacement or redesign would have to come from the Bank of Ghana at the appropriate time.

“Like I said, at the appropriate time, the governor will apprise us of any plans that he has for replacing the currency,” President Mahama said.