Economist and Professor at the University of Ghana, Professor Godfred Bokpin, has cautioned against Ghana’s current aggressive currency stabilisation.
Speaking in an interview on Joy FM’s Newsnight on Wednesday, October 16, Prof Bokpin described the strengthening of the cedi as “a great cost to the country.”
He warned that the policies and interventions sustaining it are eroding private sector competitiveness and threatening environmental sustainability.
“We are achieving this aggressive strengthening of the currency at a great cost to the country.
“In a certain stance, we are reminded to aggressively deal with illegal mining because we suspect there could be a structural break in the supply of gold.
“People are dying, and we are destroying our water bodies—all because 32 million people are obsessed with a low exchange rate.”
According to him, while the Bank of Ghana’s interventions have helped to stabilise the cedi, they have come at the expense of credit availability and growth.
“If you track the data, you’ll notice that the level of stabilisation the Bank of Ghana has done runs into billions of cedis. That credit, which could have been available for businesses to borrow at low cost, expand, and create jobs, is no longer available,” he explained.
Prof Bokpin cautioned that such an approach undermines long-term economic resilience and stifles private sector growth.
“What that means is that we are having this aggressive strengthening at a great cost to private sector competitiveness,” he stressed.
He urged policymakers to balance currency stabilisation efforts with strategies that promote sustainable economic growth, protect the environment, and ensure that fiscal and monetary policies do not choke private sector recovery.
His comments come after the Ghana cedi recorded one of its biggest gains against the dollar since the third quarter of 2025.
Data from major commercial banks seen by Joy Business show that between October 6 and October 10, 2025, the cedi appreciated by about 5% on the interbank market.
This marks the first time since the third quarter of 2025 that the cedi has posted such sharp gains against the U.S. dollar.
