The Director of Research at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), Dr John Kwakye has said Ghana’s currency, the Cedi, is not the third strongest in Africa.

He intimated that it is rather the currency with the third highest value.

These are two different things all together, he stated.

“The cedi is not the third strongest in Africa.

It is the currency with the third highest value. They are two different things. Just because a currency has a high value doesn’t mean it is strong. The value can be artificially defined through redenomination,” Dr Kwakye tweeted in response to a comment by a Deputy Finance Minister John Kumah to the effect that the local currency is the third strongest on the African continent.

Mr John Kumah had said “And look, I’ve heard all the propaganda, they said Ghana cedi is the worst in Africa and all kinds of things. Look, don’t believe those propaganda. I just returned from Tunisia on a programme, and Tunisia has the second strongest currency in Africa.

“Ghana is third actually according to any global ranking of currencies. I am talking about the strength of currencies in Africa. The Libyan Dinar, followed by Tunisian Dinar and then Ghana cedi is the third strongest currency in Africa. But maybe they were talking about the rate of depreciation.

“I just saw what is happening in Nigeria and they are equally complaining that their Naira is not just four hundred and something to the dollar, but sometimes it’s even 700 depending on where … sometimes they can’t even find the dollar. So this is a global situation.”

He added, “So it is not just a Ghana situation, it is something that is happening globally and people should not begin to think that it’s as a result of some bad policy or whatever.”