Currency News for September 14th 2020

The Ghana Cedi at the start of the week extended its weekly losses against the US Dollar for the eighth consecutive time on the Bank of Ghana (BoG) inter-bank trading platform. It, however, maintained its resilience to build on previous week’s gain against the British Pound Sterling. Similarly, on the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), the local currency posted a mixed performance against its three major trading partner currencies.

The Cedi has maintained a relatively stable performance against some of its major trading partner currencies despite uncertainties clouding the entire Ghanaian economy ahead of the December elections. Its performance has been adjudged as one of the best among its peers in the sub-region buoyed by a blend of well-diversified export base, robust forex reserves, and reduced trade and import activities. Positive export inflows coupled with declining forex demand are expected to give support to the local currency in the remainder of the year.

On the BoG inter-bank trading platform, the Cedi weakened by 0.11% and 0.52% to trade at GHC 5.7029 and GHC 6.7720 at the start of the week from previous week’s trade values of GHC 5.6969 and GHC 6.7368 against the Dollar and the Euro respectively. The Euro extended its recent gains against many of its trading pairs including the Cedi after the European Central Bank showed no interest in embarking on strategies to weaken the single currency despite its recent gains, giving investors enough motivation to continue to buy the Euro. Against the British Pound Sterling, the Cedi gained 2.22% to trade at GHC 7.3401 at the start of the week from previous week’s trade value of GHC 7.5069.

On the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), the Cedi dipped by 0.23% and 0.54% to begin the week trading at GHC 5.8058 and GHC 6.8869 from previous week’s trade values of GHC 5.7925 and GHC 6.8502 against the Dollar and the Euro respectively. It strengthened by 2.37% to build previous week’s gains against the Pound. The Pound was exchanged for GHC 7.4605 at start of the week from previous week’s exchange price of GHC 7.6417. The Pound was weighed down by concerns that Brexit negotiations was bound to fail.

According to the Bank of Ghana inter-bank rates, the Ghanaian Cedi began the year 2020 at GHC 5.5370 [January 2nd, 2020] against the US Dollar and is currently selling at GHC 5.7029 [September 14th, 2020] indicating a 3.00% year-to-date depreciation. 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 5.8058 [September 14th, 2020], representing a 1.93% year-to-date depreciation of the Cedi against the US Dollar.