An Economics lecturer at Yale University, Vikram Mansharamani has suggested Ghana abandon its cedi and adopt the US dollar as its currency.
He said a country like Hong Kong is doing well currently because it abandoned its local currency for the US Dollar.
According to him, the rate at which the cedi has depreciated since independence should inform authorities to scrap its usage as legal tender.
Dr Mansharamani noted that the Cedi has depreciated 99.99 per cent since Ghana’s independence in 1957 and that is the cause of the country’s economic woes.
The Cedi was introduced as legal tender under the presidency of Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah in 1965 and has been under the regulation of the Bank of Ghana.
“The Ghana Cedis has emotional attachment,” Dr Mansharamani admitted but stated that if the regulators of the currency have not the capabilities, they should outsource it.
He cited the performance of the CFA by Francophone West African countries as evidence that Ghana can adopt another country’s currency to run its economy.
Business World (with notes from tv3)