A US-based associate professor of finance, Professor William Peprah, is calling for redenomination of the Ghana cedi.

According to him, this will cause a behavioural change on the part of currency dealers who are rushing to buy the dollar as a store of value.

Speaking to Joy Business, Professor Peprah, said the move will also lower prices and values of monetary commodities in the country since the cost of redenomination will be lower than the cost of inflation.

“The current situation in Ghana where we have seen the cedi devaluing and high inflation currently requires that the economic managers would have to consider again the cedi currency redenomination. In fact, I propose that we take a zero off or divide the currency by 10; the value as you know will be the same”.

“It is 15 years after the last cedi redenomination. A similar situation was faced in 2006 and by July 1, 2007, the cedi was redenominated,” he mentioned.

He pointed out that the cost of redenomination of the currency will be lower than the cost of inflation and the fast devaluation of the cedi.

“This must be considered within the next six months. This would lower prices and the value of monetary commodities in the country”, Professor Peprah stressed.

BoG undertook redenomination in 2007

The last time the cedi was redenominated in 2007, four zeroes were knocked off. That means 10,000 will be equivalent to one Ghana Cedi.

Two of the reasons given by the Bank of Ghana for the re-denomination are the increasing difficulty in maintaining accounting and statistical records; and problems with accounting and data processing software.

For most business enterprises, such an exercise was expected to result in significant cost savings on the one hand but some challenges on the other.