President John Mahama has said that he thinks that the real exchange rate value of the Ghana cedi against the United States dollar is in the range of GH¢10 to GH¢12.

The President made the revelation when he received a delegation of the Federation of Associations of Ghanaian Exporters (FAGE), led by its President the Davies Narh Korboe, at the Presidency in Accra.

The President said the recent appreciation in the value of the cedi was one that Ghanaians had kept watching as the cedi started to strengthen and the dollar depreciated.

“I mean, with our A-level economics, we all know that it’s a balance between imports and exports. What it means is that it makes your imports cheaper and your exports more expensive,” he said.

He said there must be a fair balance to try and achieve the true value of the cedi.

“Some people say, oh, it will come down to four. But, of course, we know the true value of the cedi is not four. And if it went as far down as four, it would kill all your export businesses.” The President said.

“And so, I, the Governor, and the Finance Minister met and discussed it. And they think that the real value of the cedi is anywhere between 10 and 12. Luckily, the Forex option has brought it to just above 10, and it appears to have stabilised there.”

He said, he thinks that going forward, anything between ¢10, ¢11, and ¢12 to the dollar as a band where the cedi operates would be a fair value, both to encourage the nation’s exports, but at the same time, not make imports so cheap that importers would flood the nation’s markets with goods such as toothpicks, biscuits and coconuts.

President Mahama said it was a challenge to the nation’s exporters to take advantage of the cedi appreciation, because the advantage they also had was that the raw materials could be cheaper.

He said fuel prices had gone down, and, therefore, transporting products would be cheaper.

He said Port charges would also go down, which would serve as an incentive for both exporters and importers.

He said he was asking the importers not to take advantage of it and flood Ghanaians with all kinds of goods from other countries.

“Let’s try on the import side to import substitutes and produce as many of the products that we bring from outside. Let us produce them here,” he said.

“And at the same time, let’s produce more products that people demand outside so that we have a better balance in terms of economic growth.”

He reiterated that the cedi’s appreciation against major international currencies was an advantage for Ghanaians, which they must take the opportunity of.

He said FAGE was a key partner in their efforts to achieve the economic objectives under the 24-Hour Economy Policy.

He said they had inaugurated the Accelerated Export Development Advisory Committee, which he was chairing personally as part of efforts to expand Ghana’s export sector.

He said they would work together to implement the National Export Development Strategy so that Ghana could become a net exporter instead of an importer.

Mr Davies Narh Korboe, FAGE President, pledged the Association’s support for the Government’s 24-Hour Economy Policy.

He complained to the President of FAGE about being removed from the Boards of the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) and the Ghana Exim Bank.

Mr Korboe extended an invitation to the President to address the opening ceremony of the Ghana Horticulture Expo, which was being organised by FAGE on June 11.

The three-day event on the theme “Innovate, Transform, Sustain: Driving Growth in Ghana’s Horticultural Sector” is a major industry event featuring conferences, seminars, workshops, trade exhibitions, and networking events.