But this measure, by creating a dollar black market, had the opposite effect: last year the cedi lost more than half its value.

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The external value of the local currency, the cedi, has dropped precipitously from 1.4 cedis to the dollar in January 2.2 cedis to the dollar in July -- a drop of 57% in terms of the local currency.

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The Ghanaian cedi, too, looks overvalued.

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