Ghana - Money

The unit of currency, the cedi, was valued at ¢7,325:US$1 in mid-2001. Under the Economic Recovery

Trade (expressed in billions of US$): Ghana
	Exports	Imports
1975	.809	.802
1980	1.257	1.129
1985	.617	.731
1990	N/A	N/A
1995	1.724	1.907
1998	1.885	N/A
SOURCE: International Monetary Fund. International Financial Statistics Yearbook 1999.

Exchange rates: Ghana
new cedis per US$1
Jan 2001	6,895.77
2000	5,321.68
1999	2,647.32
1998	2,314.15
1997	2,050.17
1996	1,637.23
SOURCE: CIA World Factbook 2001 [ONLINE].

Program (ERP) Phase One (1983-86), backed by the IMF and the World Bank, the cedi was allowed to depreciate rapidly from October 1983 to March 1986. Valued at ¢2.75 to the dollar in 1982, it fell to ¢90 to the dollar by 1986. Market forces currently determine the exchange rate and the depreciation has continued, making it easier for Ghana to export its goods. Travellers to Ghana are allowed to bring with them any amount of foreign exchange into the country which can be changed into cedis in commercial banks or the foreign bureau. Previously travellers were required to declare the amount of foreign currency they were carrying, and forced to exchange it at highly unfavorable rates with official foreign exchange dealers, and this served to provide a significant discouragement to tourists.

Inflation has been a persistent problem in Ghana, thanks in part to its depreciating currency. Over the period from 1997 to 1999, however, inflation declined from 20.8 percent to 15.7 percent to 9.5 percent. In 1999 the inflation rate rebounded to 12.8 percent.