Yale Professor calls for scrapping of Cedi as legal tender

An Economics Lecturer at Yale University, Dr Vikram Mansharamani, says the rate at which Ghana’s local currency, Cedi, has devalued since the country’s 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.

He made these suggestions in an interview with TV3’s Kweku Temeng on Friday, August 15 in Accra.

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.

He said a country like Hong Kong is doing well currently because it abandoned its local currency for the US Dollar, suggesting that Ghana can adopt the US Dollar as its currency.