Bank of Ghana to remould one pesewa coin to moderate inflation

After the re-denomination of the cedi, the one Ghana pesewa, the lowest of the coins among the currency has not been accepted by Ghanaians. The coin was rejected and even though not officially withdrawn, has gone out of circulation because most Ghanaians will not accept it in transactions.

As a result, the Bank of Ghana is considering remoulding the coin to make it attractive to the public, as well as moderate inflation.

According to the central bank governor, Mr. Amissah-Arthur, some samples of the new coin have been sent to some markets for feedback in order to determine which one will be acceptable to both traders and buyers.

“We went round the market with samples of the one pesewa coin and we got some interesting results and we are working on that but we are looking at cost”.

“There is an associated cost to melt and remint these coins but if that will help people use it to moderate inflation then we will go ahead and do that”, Mr Amissah-Arthur said, adding “In the next couple of months we will inform you if we decide the cost will be advantageous to doing it but as of now the cost that we are getting suggests that if we do it then it will be disadvantageous to us”.

The governor disclosed this in an interaction with journalists at the Bank in Accra last Friday February 18, 2011.

The governor admitted that refusal of the one Ghana pesewa coin by some traders is a worry to the bank since it is a legal tender which can be used to purchase goods and services.

By Ekow Quandzie