Bank of Ghana set to unveil new GH¢5 notes
Bank of Ghana has announced that it will unveil new bank notes in five cedi denominations from March as the regulator celebrates its 60th anniversary.
According to the Second Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr. Johnson Asiama, the banknote will be legal tender as well as a collector’s item. “The note will have new durable security features which can be easily identified by the public as well as introduce other internationally acceptable security features which are sensitive to touch to aid the blind and visually challenged in identifying the banknotes,” he said at the 4th Edition of the AB & David Crystal Ball Africa 2017 in Accra.
Dr. Asiama explained that, the decision to issue the new note is to climax the celebration of the central bank’s 60th anniversary which will take place in August 2017.
“You will recall nearly a decade ago, when the Bank of Ghana celebrated its golden jubilee with currency exhibitions and road shows across the country. Once again, on the 4th of March 2017, we shall be celebrating the 60th Anniversary of Central Banking in Ghana”, he said.
This is going to be the first time a new denomination will be issued under the tenure of the governor, Dr. Abdul Nashiru Issahaku. By this, it is expected that the note will bear the signature of Dr. Issahaku who may voluntarily leave his position upon a good negotiation with the the new Nana Akufo-Addo government.
The launch of the new denomination comes at a time when the bank has announced plans to release some $120 million onto the market for the first quarter of this year as part of the Central Bank’s plan to help stabilise the cedi through an auction.
The auction which will be restricted to licensed foreign exchange dealing banks will see the regulator, auction $40 million in January, February and March this year, totaling $120 million.
It has already released about $80 million to some commercial banks in the last quarter of 2016.
Some analyst says the intervention helped to reduce the cedi rate of depreciation which was very sharp in December 2016. However, this latest intervention has been met with mixed reactions.
Whiles some believe it’s a prudent decision to halt the cedi’s rate of depreciation, other think is not sustainable.
