Printing cedi notes is an expensive venture for Ghana – BoG

Head of Currency Processing Operations at the Bank of Ghana, Dominic Owusu, has stated that the constant upgrade of security features on the Cedi is one major reason it cannot be printed by the Central Bank.

He added, expenses involved in getting sophisticated machines with such security features are costly.

“Printing of banknotes is not just printing on a piece of paper. It goes much further than that. First of all, banknotes are made up of hundred percent cotton. You will need a budget to keep upgrading and introducing new machines with new security features.”

Another factor, he revealed, was that Ghana lacked the expertise and high-level of technology to engage in printing of new bank notes.

“We don’t have the capacity and it is a very expensive venture” hence the Bank of Ghana will “continue to leave that capital intensive, highly technologically advanced and sophisticated job to the experts for now”. He stated in an interview

Mr Dominic Owusu indicated that these upgrades are done by printers to go ahead of persons who deliberately attempt to imitate local currencies.

According to him, such fraudulent acts are on the rise because perpetrators are technologically savvy.

“Once you introduce a security feature, the counterfeiters try to get it. Therefore, the printers also try to stay ahead of them always by upgrading their machines.” He stated.

“If you buy these sophisticated printer machines, you should be ready for some of these important considerations. So, you can imagine what goes into it. You simply cannot keep pace and hence for now, it is better to leave it to the experts.”

“So, you need a lot of experience to be able to print banknotes and also make it difficult if not impossible to produce counterfeits and that is very important. Because of this and other stringent measures needed, there are only a few private printers which are internationally accredited by a number of certifications who are authorized or who most countries go to print.”

He assured that the BoG is working towards ensuring a solid trust in the Ghana cedi notes.