Economist Professor Godfred Bokpin has stated that the Ghana Gold Coin is not a viable solution to the depreciation of the cedi.
On Friday, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) unveiled the Ghana Gold Coin, a new investment initiative aimed at reducing dollar hoarding.
As part of the domestic gold programme, the initiative seeks to absorb excess liquidity in the market and strengthen the local currency against major trading currencies.
The coin will be available in three denominations: a one-ounce coin, a half-ounce coin, and a quarter-ounce coin, and will be sold through commercial banks within two weeks.
During the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on Friday, September 27, BoG Governor Dr. Ernest Addison announced that the prices for the coins will be published on the BoG’s website.
Despite the initiative’s goals, Professor Bokpin maintains that it is not a comprehensive solution to the cedi’s depreciation.
But Prof Bokpin in an interview on Eyewitness News on Citi FM on Friday indicated that “I associate with the intervention from the central bank to the extent that there are very limited alternative avenues right now in the market and therefore any genuine attempt to offer alternatives would be welcomed and the next important question as you rightly asked is whether this is the solution.
“We have been waiting for this all this while and I think it is not too hard to look for that and to conclude that that is not the solution.”
“The reason is as much as we acknowledge that this is an alternative, the market is dry largely also because of confidence and all of that. This is not the solution.”
Prof Bokpin stressed that the introduction of the coin was not a substitute for managing the economy well.
“I want to believe that it is not packaged as a substitute for managing the economy well because the fundamental thriving factors pushing the cedi to lose its own against the major trading currencies when it comes to fiscal discipline when it comes to enhancing the capacity of the local economy, less import reliance, adding value to the export of your raw commodities, this doesn’t substitute for all of that,” he added.
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