Currency News for April 19th 2021

The Ghana Cedi fell across the board 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) for the first time in 2021. This comes after the local currency had maintained a stable trajectory against most of its trading pairs in the first quarter of the year.

The Cedi remains on course to erase some of its gains recorded against the US Dollar and the Euro as demand for forex steadily climbs. A recent directive given by the central bank to relax its earlier directive on the payment of dividends by banks will further see high demand for forex at the expense of the local currency.

On the BoG inter-bank trading platform, the Cedi lost by 0.03%, 1.83%, and 1.03% to open the week trading at GHC 5.7343, GHC 8.0205, and GHC 6.8976 from previous week’s opening trade values of GHC 5.7323, GHC 7.8767, and GHC 6.8273 against the Dollar, the British Pound Sterling, and the Euro respectively. The Dollar rose against a host of its trading pairs including the Cedi following a pick-up in economic activities as investors increase their spending as a result of the disbursement of the latest batch of US government stimulus package.

On the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), the Cedi plunged by 0.06%, 1.43%, and 0.97% to trade at GHC 5.7924, GHC 8.0620, and GHC 6.9570 at the start of the week from last week’s opening trade figures of GHC 5.7887, GHC 7.9487, and GHC 6.8901 against the Dollar, the Pound, and the Euro respectively. The Euro added onto its previous weeks’ gains against the Cedi following easing concerns over the EU vaccine program, a development believed to be calming investors’ nerves. News of improving EU inflation further gave hope to the single currency.

According to the Bank of Ghana inter-bank rates, the Ghanaian Cedi began the year 2021 at GHC 5.7631 [January 4th, 2021] against the US Dollar and is currently selling at GHC 5.7343 [April 19th, 2021] indicating a 0.50% year-to-date appreciation. Similarly, on the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), the Ghanaian Cedi traded at GHC 5.8885 [January 4th, 2021] and is currently trading at GHC 5.7924 [April 19th, 2021], representing a 1.63% year-to-date appreciation of the Cedi against the US Dollar.