Kumasi, Jan. 05, GNA - Some traders and commercial drivers in the Kumasi metropolis have appealed to the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to compel commercial and rural banks to make available enough coins in the system to facilitate business transaction.
They suggested that the banks should dispatch some of their mobile vans to vantage points in the metropolis to make it easy for the public to exchange notes for the coins that they said were in limited supply. They mentioned in particular the one, five and 10 pesewa coins as some of the denominations that were hard to come by. Some of the traders and drivers the Ghana News Agency spoke to in Kumasi on Friday complained about the persistent clash between passengers, drivers, sellers and buyers over coins ever since the old currency ceased to be legal tender.
The situation has also compelled sachet iced water sellers to sell at five pesewas instead of four pesewas. Nana Kwame Gyimah, a tro-tro driver, said as much as the re-denomination of the cedi was necessary, the BoG should work hard to ensure that all bottlenecks impeding the success of the exercise were addressed to enhance business activities.
The shortage of the coins, he said, was a recipe for malpractices as it could give room for illegal sale of the coins by unscrupulous citizens along the streets.
Madam Rita Adjei, a trader, suggested to the banks to pay part of the money withdrawn by their customers in coins to ensure their free flow in the system.
An accountant at the Bosomtwe-Rural Bank at Kuntanase has attributed the shortage of the coins to people's refusal to accept them when the coins were introduced during the re-denomination exercise. He said the BoG was doing everything possible to ensure mass circulation of the smaller coins and appealed to petty traders and commercial drivers to go to the banks to exchange for the coins.
