THE REDENOMINATIO OF THE GHANAIAN CURRENCY(2007)- A STUDY OF ITS IMPACT ON THE BUSINESS OF THE FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS IN GHANA

Abstract: Abstract The cedi is Ghana’s official currency which was introduced on July 19, 1965. The loss in the value of the cedi since its introduction cannot be overestimated. Owing to the low values of the notes and coins(due to persistent loss in value), huge quantities had to be printed and minted resulting in huge cost to the central bank. Meanwhile commercial banks were facing high cash based transaction cost because relatively large quantities of notes were needed for transactions. There was also high risk involved in cash based transaction to the banks and their clients. Bank customers were becoming more uncomfortable carrying huge quantities of cash to and from the banks. These customers also had to spend more time at the banking halls to get served. These and other factors reduced the interest and confidence of the general public in the financial sector affecting banking businesses. The re denomination of the cedi was done in 2007, to deal with these ’huge dead-weight burden’ on the banks and the entire economy of Ghana. The objective of this study is to explore its impact on some variables affecting commercial banking businesses. These are cost, operational risk, deposit mobilization, ATM operations, and reliability and convenience of banking services. A pluralistic approach was adopted for this research and the results of both the quantitative and qualitative study done in analyzing my hypothesis reaffirmed each other and provided valuable findings and deeper understanding of the impact of the re denomination on the business of the financial institutions. The main findings showed the following: 1) The re denomination had not affected costs in banks, 2) The re denomination has generally reduced operational loss risks, 3) The re denomination has generally improved deposit mobilization, 4) The re denomination has improved the reliability and profitability of ATM s, 5) The re denomination has improved the reliability and convenience of banking services. With this study I hope to provide new insights on how re denomination affects the business of financial institutions who are key partners to the central banks in the successful implementation of such exercise. I also hope to provide valuable recommendations on how banks can deal with the challenges that may be presented by a re denomination