Cedi fall: Gh¢10 to $1; a possible scenario - Otabil

A famous motivational pastor and preacher in Ghana, Dr Mensa Otabil, fears his country’s currency, the Cedi, could soon fall to as low as Gh¢10 to a Dollar.

“That scenario of 10 to 1 is a possibility. It can. I don’t wish it, I don’t expect it, I don’t pray for it”, he said, but added nonetheless that Ghanaians should face the reality that “things could get worse”.

Speaking at an annual event, “Festival of Ideas” in Ghana’s national capital, Accra, Dr Otabil said inasmuch as he wished prayers could save the local currency from losing further value against the Dollar and other major currencies of international trade, “...the Cedi has a very peculiar mind of its own”.

The Government of Ghana recently set the records straight that contrary to local and international media reports that the Cedi had fallen by at least 30 percent and at most 40 percent, since the beginning of the year, the correct figure was a little under 23 percent, per the exchange figures on the Central Bank’s website as of August 12.

However, associating himself with fears expressed by an earlier Speaker at the “Festival of Ideas” that the Cedi could plunge to as low as Ghc10:USD1, Dr Otabil warned that considering the trend of the fall of the currency, “inasmuch as we want to assume the best, the worst could happen”.

“I have never in my life seen prices go down…so I find it difficult to see things going back to normal based on my experience as a Ghanaian, so I prepare for the worst” he told the audience.

He said he was not the government and therefore “I don’t control the economy”, adding that: “If they make good decisions, good for us, if they don’t, we prepare for the worst”.

The preacher told business owners to prepare for “choppy waters” in the light of the depreciating local currency, but urged them to “still move on”. “You can’t just stand there”, he admonished.