President John Dramani Mahama says Ghana’s currency 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 central banks must periodically update banknotes to make them more difficult to reproduce.
According to President Mahama, maintaining the same security features on banknotes for extended periods could make currencies more vulnerable to counterfeiting as criminals become familiar with the systems used to protect 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.
He explained that periodic changes to security features give central banks an opportunity to strengthen the protection of banknotes and make counterfeiting more difficult.
“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 said.
President Mahama indicated that the Bank of Ghana (BoG) is considering refreshing the cedi, although he did not provide a timeline for any changes.
“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,” he said.
He stressed that any decision to redesign or replace the cedi rests with the central bank and that details of a possible currency refresh would be announced by the BoG when appropriate.
A currency refresh would primarily involve updating security features on existing banknotes to strengthen protection against counterfeiting. It would not, in itself, change the value of the cedi or constitute a redenomination.
President Mahama also defended 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 the 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.
The President reiterated that any decision to refresh, redesign or replace the currency would be communicated by the Bank of Ghana at the appropriate time.
