The Ghanaian Cedi this week posted a mixed performance against its three major trading partner currencies on both the Bank of Ghana (BoG) inter-bank trading platform and on the Open Forex Market (oanda.com) as the BoG move to strengthen its regulations on the importation and exportation of foreign currencies in and out of the country. The BoG in a release which sought to reiterate a directive given by the central bank in 2008 stated that any amounts in excess of USD 10,000.00 or other foreign equivalents which is being sent in or out of the country ought to be declared or channeled through an authorized dealer. The Cedi at the start of the week extended its weekly losses against the US Dollar to three weeks, however, it remained strong against the British Pound Sterling and the Euro to build on previous week’s gains on the BoG inter-bank trading platform.
The Cedi’s outlook for the second quarter of the year remains stable on the back of improved position of Ghana’s Gross International Reserves (GIR) which can enable the central bank to regularly intervene in the currency market to supply forex to meet any unexpected surge in demand. Data from the BoG has revealed that Ghana’s GIR rose significantly from USD 7.0 billion (equivalent to 3.6 months of import) as at end-December to USD 9.9 billion (equivalent to 5.0 months of import cover) at the close of the first quarter of 2019.
On the BoG inter-bank trading platform, the Cedi depreciated by 0.01% against the Dollar to begin the week at GHC 5.0906 from previous week’s trade value of GHC 5.0903. The greenback in recent times has been on a strong footing buoyed by positive US hard data which has mainly supported the Dollar. The US economy recorded a growth of 3.2% in the first quarter of the year beating an anticipated growth rate of 2.0%. Against the British Pound Sterling and the Euro, the Cedi appreciated by 0.13% and 0.38%, week-on-week, to build on previous week’s gains against the pair. It began the week trading at GHC 6.5801 and GHC 5.6843 from previous week’s trading values of GHC 6.5889 and GHC 5.7061 against the Pound and the Euro respectively.
On the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), the Cedi lost to the Dollar and the Pound as it fell by 0.45% and 0.14% to trade at GHC 5.1562 and 6.6668 at the start of the week from previous week’s trading values of GHC 5.1332 and GHC 6.6573 respectively. The Pound recovered part of previous week’s loss against the Cedi after news report indicated that the UK government and the opposition has made substantive progress in Brexit talks, adding to investor’s confidence. The Cedi, however, gained traction to build on previous week’s gain against the Euro as it appreciated by 0.17% to begin the week GHC 5.7573 from previous week’s trade figure of GHC 5.7670.
According to the Bank of Ghana inter-bank rates, the Ghanaian Cedi began 2019 at GHC 4.8291 [January 2nd, 2019] against the US Dollar and is currently selling at GHC 5.0906 [April 29th, 2019] indicating a 5.42% year-to-date depreciation. Similarly, on the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), the Ghanaian Cedi traded at GHC 4.8780 [January 2nd, 2019] and is currently trading at GHC 5.1562 [April 29th, 2019], representing a 5.70% year-to-date depreciation of the Cedi against the US Dollar.