Do not pray for the Cedi – Pastors said

General News of Thursday, March 28, 2019

Source: 3news.com

2019-03-28

Those who try to pray for the Cedi to rise have been asked to give up.

According to world-renowned economist Kwame Pianim, this will only affect the global competitiveness of Ghana's industries.

"Please, do not pray for the Cedi to appreciate," he urged.

"This will make our competitive industries globally uncompetitive."

He made this observation during the second series of economic dialogues organized by Media General on Thursday, March 28.

The theme of the latest edition was "The Ghana Cedi: Break the cycle of depreciation".

In 2014, after the net decline of the Cedi, the acting president of Chapel International, Nicholas Duncan-Williams, prayed for the Cedi to rise.

Mr Pianim felt that pragmatic measures should instead be put in place to ensure the overall well-being of the economy.

"We must move to restructuring the economy," he insisted.

He pointed out that one of the key factors affecting the performance of the local currency since independence is "inconsistency of policies" with "the unexpected consequence" that results.

"Let me badure you that there is no divine direction for the Cedi to continue on its historically consistent downward trend with frequent annoying and mediocre episodes of depreciation.

"It's not like debts and taxes to bear with resignation.

"It's the result of human activities and all human constructions come and need to be managed for optimal benefits."

He also blamed media panic, saying those who held dollars, for example, would continue to keep them when information about the depreciation hit the headlines.