Currency News For February 3rd 2020

The Ghanaian Cedi at the start of the second month of the year maintained its resilient performance to build on previous weeks’ gains on both the Bank of Ghana (BoG) inter-bank trading platform and on the Open Forex Market (oanda.com). The Cedi’s recent strengthening comes on the back of positive sentiments surrounding the Cedi’s outlook. International news agency, Bloomberg, has subsequently adjudged the Cedi as the best-performing currency against the US Dollar among over 100 international currencies tracked by the agency. On the BoG inter-bank trading platform, the Cedi rose to its highest since late November, 2019 against all three major trading partner currencies.

The Cedi’s recent performance comes as Ghana prepares to issues its eighth Eurobond. Ghana is hoping to raise a total of USD 3.0 billion to support its 2020 budget. Proceeds from the Eurobond will further strengthen gains made on the country’s Gross International Reserves (GIR) which stands at USD 8.4 billion as at the close of 2019 as compared to a GIR of USD 7.0 billion over the same period in 2018. According to a recent BoG document, the gains made in the GIR are attributable to the country’s trade surplus, together with improvements in net current transfers.

On the BoG inter-bank trading platform, the Cedi built on previous week’s gains recorded against the Dollar and the Euro whilst it gained momentum to post a recovery against the British Pound Sterling.  It appreciated by 1.99%, 2.30%, and 1.70% to trade at GHC 5.4144, GHC 7.0496, and GHC 5.9823 at the start of the week from previous week’s trade values of GHC 5.5245, GHC 7.2155, and GHC 6.0859 against the Dollar, the Pound, and the Euro respectively. The Cedi posted its third consecutive weekly gain against the Dollar on news that the US economy in 2019 recorded its slowest annual growth in three years. This bleak data depressed the Dollar’s appear as a safe-haven as it fell against a host of currencies.

On the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), the Cedi extended its weekly gains against all three major trading partner currencies for the fourth consecutive time. It strengthened by 2.19%, 2.09%, and 1.79% to begin the week trading at GHC 5.4684, GHC 7.1516, and GHC 6.0532 from previous week’s trade values of GHC 5.5908, GHC 7.3042, and GHC 6.1635 against the Dollar, the Pound, and the Euro respectively. The Pound declined against a host of trading pairs as UK Prime Minister took a hard stance on trade talks with the European Union raising concerns that a deal may not be reached by the end of the transition period.

According to the Bank of Ghana inter-bank rates, the Ghanaian Cedi began 2020 at GHC 5.5370 [January 2nd, 2020] against the US Dollar and is currently selling at GHC 5.4144 [February 3rd, 2020] indicating a 2.21% year-to-date appreciation. Similarly, on the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), the Ghanaian Cedi traded at GHC 5.6961 [January 2nd, 2020] and is currently trading at GHC 5.4684 [February 3rd, 2020], representing a 4.00% year-to-date appreciation of the Cedi against the US Dollar.