A farmer at Kobeng in the Atwima-Nwabiagya District of Ashanti has suggested to the government to ensure that any purchases of 500,OOO cedis and above made using the old currency, within the first six months of the gradual change-over from the old currency to the new should be in the new currency. This is to avoid situations where some unscrupulous people might take advantage of the opportunity offered during the change-over to use counterfeit currency of the old currency as a medium of exchange, The farmer, Madam Akosua Manu said this when contributing to discussions at a forum organised by the Atwima-Nwabiagya District Secretariat of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) to educate the people on the re-denomination of the currency at Kobeng. The re-denomination exercise, which will involve the use of the new currency side by side the old, starts from July 1, 2.007 till the end of the year. The District Director of the NCCE, Mr Bismark Nana Yaw Kwabiah, said that by December 31, 2007 nobody could use the old currency to transact business again but those who might still have some of the old currencies in their possession could exchange them at any bank for the same value. Nana Kwabiah said there was no limit for the exchange, unlike previous exercises which imposed time limits and therefore urged the people not to, rush to change their monies when the time was due. He said further that the redenomination exercise would not affect the exchange rate of the foreign currency. The District Director of the NCCE called on the people to embrace the new currency as it would reduce the risks associated with business transactions since no one needed to carry large sums of money around any more. He said it would also encourage people to deposit their moneys at the bank to avert armed robberies and fire outbreaks. Other advantages he told the gathering about were that the re-denomination exercise would eliminate the long queues customers had to make during bank transactions, as the new currency would definitely facilitate transactions at the bank. Nana Kwabiah said it would also reduce the cost of printing new cur¬rency notes to replace worn-out ones. He expressed optimism that the people would take good care of the notes as the smaller denominations, which hitherto were not handled carefully, were now in coin form. The secretariat has so far covered Nkawie Panin, Nkawie Kuma, Toase, Amankyea, Kumi, Esaase, Sokwae Akwaboa and Mari. Similar fora have also been organised for the Catholic and Assemblies of God churches at Abuakwa, Nkawie Anglican Church, Toase Catholic Church Toase Pentecost and the Sepaase Assemblies of God churches. It has also participated in similar fora in 14 junior secondary schools in the district, including the Nkawie Experimental, the Kufuor JSS at Nkawie, the Nkawie Anglican, the Tweneboa-Kodua International, and Kobeng schools. Credit: Daily Graphic