The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has disclosed its intentions to address the dollarisation of Ghana’s economy as part of the celebration of the currency, Bernard Otabil, the Head of Communications at the central bank, has noted.
He says the celebration will not only commemorate the currency but also to stress the need that the Ghana cedi is the nation’s only legal tender.
Otabil, speaking ahead of the official launch of the commemoration scheduled for Tuesday, October 28, 2025, he said it was time Ghanaians were made to understand that the cedi is the pride of the nation.
“The celebration is not just to celebrate a currency but to celebrate our heritage. It is to put it out there that the cedi is the pride of the nation. It is the only legal tender that we have, and it is something worth celebrating for the simple reason that, beyond the cedi, there is no other currency in Ghana,” he said on JoyNews Monday, October 27, 2025.
According to him, the BoG aims to strengthen monetary policy and economic stability by encouraging businesses and the citizenry as a whole to conduct all transactions in cedis.
“We also want to use the occasion to address the issue of dollarisation. Monetary policy is much more effective if indeed we are all pricing in cedis,” he said.
He added that “the transmission mechanism works well if we do not have the overwhelming impact of exchange rate pass-through effects on our currency or economy. The signal for monetary policy is best felt if we all, as economic agents, have that sense of pride in pricing and doing everything in the cedi.”
He also bemoaned the excessive public discussions that heavily focus on exchange rate, which he says fuels speculation and undermine the confidence in the local currency.
“You wake up every morning, and the debate on the radio is about the cedi and the dollar. The exchange rate will definitely move; it will go up and come down; it will not be static forever,” he said.
“Why should that debate even be going on? Are we playing into the hands of speculators? These are some of the issues we want to use the celebration to address.”
He added that the Cedi@60 launch would mark the beginning of a series of activities planned for next year, all aimed at reinforcing public confidence in the national currency and deepening awareness of its value.
“Beyond that, the launch is just to usher in a series of activities that we’ve planned for next year,” Otabil stated.
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