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His comments come in the wake of the cedi’s recent appreciation following BoG’s intervention in the foreign exchange market. In an interview cited by Citi Newsroom, Professor Baah-Boateng stressed that currency stability — rather than frequent appreciation or depreciation — is key to maintaining a resilient economy. “Stability is the best. Appreciating and depreciating are not ideal. I’m concerned about the recent movement. We were at GH¢12 and straight away we’re moving into GH¢10. When you calculate the percentage, it’s around 20%, and it will hurt some aspects of the economy while benefiting others. But overall, the economy will not benefit,” he explained. He cautioned that the cedi’s appreciation could negatively impact government revenue and export margins, particularly for key commodities such as cocoa. “Now that the cedi has moved from GH¢12 to GH¢10, expect that government revenue will take a hit. It will reduce the margins for cocoa exports. The appreciation will erode almost everything, and farmers will not benefit as they should,” he said. Professor Baah-Boateng further urged the central bank to take a proactive approach in managing the exchange rate to avoid steep swings that undermine market confidence. “I expect the Central Bank will not allow the cedi to rise and fall so sharply. When we got around GH¢10.5, we shouldn’t have allowed it to depreciate to GH¢12.5 and then come back to GH¢10.5. That kind of fluctuation is too large,” he noted. He concluded that consistent and predictable currency management is crucial to sustaining business confidence and fostering long-term economic growth.
