Chartered Economist, Amoah Darkwah has disclosed that, introduction of the Ghc 100 and Ghc 200 notes will increase the incidence of counterfeiting in Ghana.
Speaking on Happy FM’s ‘Epa Hoa Daben’ he said: “The higher the denominations of a country’s currency, the more criminals will be motivated to print out counterfeits.”
According to him, the introduction of the new denominations will only appeal more to counterfeiting criminals.
“The printing costs of the new denominations for criminals will be lower than the profits they will be making and that is a major reason for counterfeiting to increase”, he said.
When asked by host, Kwame Afrifa if security measures put in place by the Central Bank will prevent the counterfeiting, he replied in the negative, saying: “The public education on security pointers on the currency is just an added knowledge to these criminals. They now have an idea of how to print the money to meet your standards.”
The Bank of Ghana recently announced new cedi notes which it believes will help shore up the value of the currency. Ghana has begun with the issuance of GH¢100 and GH¢200 and GH¢2 coins.
By: Joel Sanco