由Andy Senna Agbley和Walter Kwaku Kwakuah

從2006年後期開始，關於20-Pesewa硬幣的微妙拒絕的消息開始釀造。加納中央銀行於2007年7月由保羅·阿莫福·阿克納（Paul Amoafo Aceakah）博士領導，進行了大膽的貨幣政策改革：塞迪的重新安裝。

A recent article in the Ghana Web publication highlighted the staggering price increases experienced by common food items over the past 17 years. For instance, a ball of kenkey that sold for 10 pesewas in 2007 is now going for GHS6—an astronomical 59,000% surge. Similarly, a sachet of water, which was 5 pesewas back then, now costs 40 pesewas.

加納網絡出版物最近的一篇文章強調了過去17年來普通食品的驚人價格上漲。例如，一個在2007年以10 pesewas售出的肯基（Kenkey）的球現在正在使用GHS6，這是一種天文數量為59,000％。同樣，一小袋水（當時是Pesewas 5），現在花費了40個PESEWAS。

This extreme price escalation is a product of several converging factors, such as:

這種極端的價格升級是幾個匯合因素的產物，例如：

The 2007 cedi redenomination, which aimed to simplify transactions by removing four zeros from the cedi and introducing smaller denomination coins for 1, 5, 10, 20, and 50 pesewas.

2007年的CEDI重新啟動，旨在通過從CEDI中刪除四個零來簡化交易，並以1、5、10、20和50 PESEWAS引入較小的面額硬幣。

The integration of smaller denomination coins was meant to facilitate transactions with precision and minimize rounding practices.

較小的面額硬幣的整合旨在促進精確的交易並最大程度地減少舍入實踐。

Despite the initial optimism and nationwide sensitisation campaigns, smaller denomination coins soon fell into disuse as they steadily lost public acceptance.

儘管最初的樂觀情緒和全國性的敏感運動，但較小的教派硬幣很快被廢棄，因為它們穩步失去了公眾的接受。

By 2010, a growing number of consumers and vendors were refusing to accept coins below 10 pesewas, citing their perceived insignificance and inconvenience.

到2010年，越來越多的消費者和供應商拒絕接受低於Pesewas的硬幣，理由是他們的無關緊要和不便。

This rejection of smaller coins had a cascading effect, as vendors began rounding up prices to the nearest 50 or 100, and coins were no longer used in calculating change.

拒絕較小的硬幣具有級聯效應，因為供應商開始將價格四捨五入到最接近的50或100，而硬幣不再用於計算變化。

Smaller Denominations, and the Covid-19 Pandemic

較小的教派和共同的19個大流行

The article also touched upon the role of the Covid-19 pandemic in accelerating food price inflation. As people's disposable incomes declined, there was a greater demand for more affordable food options like kenkey and banku, leading to a decrease in demand for relatively more expensive food items such as rice and stew.

這篇文章還談到了199-19大流行在加速食品價格通貨膨脹中的作用。隨著人們的一次性收入的下降，人們對更負擔得起的食品選擇（例如Kenkey和Banku）的需求更大，從而導致對相對昂貴的食品（例如米飯和燉菜）的需求減少。

This shift in demand had a knock-on effect, causing the prices of foodstuffs like kenkey and banku to rise rapidly.

這種需求轉變產生了連鎖反應，導致像肯基（Kenkey）和班克（Banku）這樣的食品價格迅速上升。

Smaller Denominations: A Silent Driver of Inflation

較小的教派：通貨膨脹的沉默驅動力

While inflation is usually attributed to macroeconomic factors like money supply, economic growth, and exchange rate volatility, the rejection of smaller denomination coins introduced a unique microeconomic contributor to inflationary pressures in Ghana.

雖然通貨膨脹通常歸因於宏觀經濟因素，例如貨幣供應，經濟增長和匯率波動，但拒絕較小的面額硬幣卻引入了對加納通貨膨脹壓力的獨特微觀經濟貢獻者。

This situation represents what economists term menu cost-induced inflation, a scenario where prices increase not necessarily due to supply-side shocks, but due to behavioral frictions in the pricing mechanism (Mankiw, 1985).

這種情況代表了經濟學家術語菜單成本誘導的通貨膨脹的情況，這種情況不一定是由於供應側衝擊而增加的，而是由於定價機制的行為摩擦而引起的（Mankiw，1985）。

This subtle inflation eats away at consumer purchasing power. A 20-pesewa increase in basic goods may seem insignificant in isolation, but when compounded across multiple purchases daily and monthly, it results in tangible income erosion, especially for lower-income households.

這種微妙的通貨膨脹在消費者購買力方面消失了。基本商品的20-PESEWA增加似乎是微不足道的，但是當每天進行多次購買和每月進行複合時，它會導致有形的收入侵蝕，尤其是對於低收入家庭而言。

Moreover, it undermines confidence in the currency's divisibility and usability, which were some of the essential thoughts behind the currency redenomination in the first place. When citizens deem portions of their legal tender as effectively worthless, it signals a weakening public trust in the monetary system.

此外，它破壞了對貨幣的可分裂性和可用性的信心，這首先是貨幣重新計算背後的一些基本思想。當公民認為其法定貨幣的一部分有效毫無價值時，它表明公眾對貨幣體系的信任削弱了。

A Gradual Drift Toward Hyperinflation?

逐漸漂移到過度通貨膨脹？

Today, it is the 20 pesewa; tomorrow it could be the 50 pesewa, and soon after, the GH₵1 coin. This pattern is not speculative; it reflects Ghana's recent history. The 1, 5, 10 pesewa coins, once commonly used, have now all but disappeared from circulation and consumer memory.

今天，這是20個PESEWA；明天可能是50個PESEWA，不久之後，GH₵1硬幣。這種模式不是投機性的。它反映了加納最近的歷史。 1、5、10個PESEWA硬幣曾經常用，現在幾乎都從循環和消費者記憶中消失了。

The Ghanaian economy is steadily losing its lower rungs of pricing elasticity, or to put it plainly, if this progression continues unchecked, Ghana risks drifting toward a situation where the lowest transactional denomination becomes GH₵5—a hallmark symptom of hyperinflation.

加納經濟正在穩步失去其定價彈性的較低量，或者明確地說，如果這種進展繼續不受限制，加納風險朝著最低的交易派別變為GH₵5的情況下，這是一種過度充氣的症狀。

Although this evolution may not yet meet the classic definition of hyperinflation, which entails monthly inflation exceeding 50%, the trend contributes to what can be termed creeping hyperinflation: the erosion of small-value transactions leading to disproportionate price jumps in essential goods (Hanke & Krus, 2013).

儘管這種演變可能尚不滿足過度通貨膨脹的經典定義，這需要每月的通貨膨脹超過50％，但這種趨勢有助於所謂的蔓延過度充氣：小價值交易的侵蝕導致必需品的價格不成比例的價格上漲（Hanke＆Krus，2013年）。

As coins fall out of use and are replaced by higher denominations, consumers will face rising costs for even basic goods and services.

隨著硬幣不使用並被更高的面額所取代，消費者將面臨甚至基本商品和服務的成本上升。

In a properly functioning price system, it could justifiably cost 2 pesewas, but that is no longer viable due to the impracticality of dealing with these smaller coins, which have effectively faded away.

在正常運行的價格系統中，它可能會合理地花費2個PESEWA，但由於處理這些較小的硬幣的不切實際，這已不再可行，而這些硬幣實際上已經消失了。

Theory Meets Reality

理論符合現實

Just before the policy rollout, this writer recalls a classroom discussion in 2007 during a Corporate Finance lecture at the University of Ghana, where we were tasked to project the long-term effects of the redenomination exercise.

在推出政策之前，這位作者回想起了2007年在加納大學的公司金融演講中進行的課堂討論，在那裡我們的任務是預測重新安裝練習的長期影響。

A few students, drawing on behavioral economics, anticipated that if coins were culturally undervalued, they would steadily vanish from use, and the resulting price distortion could quietly fuel inflation.

借助行為經濟學的一些學生預計，如果硬幣在文化上被低估了，他們將穩步消失，而由此產生的價格扭曲可能會悄悄地加油通貨膨脹。

Today, those predictions are playing out, a clear testament to the interplay between monetary policies, public psychology, and pricing norms.

如今，這些預測正在實現，這證明了貨幣政策，公共心理學和定價規範之間的相互作用。

Policy Considerations

政策考慮

While price control comes to mind and might appear as an immediate solution, such as setting fixed prices for low-cost goods like kenkey and sachet water, such interventions are historically fraught with enforcement challenges and unanticipated consequences (Tanzi

儘管價格控​​制想到並可能是直接解決方案，例如為Kenkey和Sachet Water等低成本商品設定固定價格，但這種干預措施歷史上充滿了執法挑戰和意外後果（Tanzi）