Ghana: Exchange Rate Reforms And The Real Exchange Rate

The dual purpose of the exchange rate (the price of a unit of foreign currency) as a means of allocating scarce foreign currency among competing uses and an important determinant of income distribution through its influence on the returns to those who produce or consume treadables, makes it a prime target as a policy tool, as has been experienced in Ghana. This paper addresses issues of exchange rate management in Ghana in both the pre- and post-independence periods, and how these have affected both micro and macro economic variables. It provides an overview of exchange rate reforms in Ghana over the period since Ghana attained independence from Britain in 1957; and investigates the factors that are most important in determining the real exchange rate in Ghana. The paper finds current transfers and real money supply to be very important in determining Ghana's real exchange rate, inter alia. In terms of policy, it finds that nominal exchange rate reform by itself alone is not a panacea for addressing distortions in an economy and promoting economic growth.