Currency News for May 4th 2021

The Cedi was mixed against its three major trading partner currencies on both the Bank of Ghana (BoG) inter-bank trading platform and the Open Forex Market (oanda.com). It recorded gains against the British Pound Sterling and the Euro but failed to build on its previous week’s gains against the US Dollar.

The Cedi’s accumulated gains against some of its trading pairs in the first three months of the year is gradually diminishing after the BoG reduced its offer amount for its bi-weekly forex forward auctions from USD 50 million to USD 25 million. At the last auction held on May 4, total bids submitted came in excess of 2.06 times the offer amount. The central bank, however, remains in a position to support the local currency as the country has sizeable reserves in excess of 4 months of import cover.

On the BoG inter-bank trading platform, the Cedi depreciated by 0.02% to trade at GHC 5.7349 at the start of the week from previous week’s trade value of GHC 5.7336. The Dollar rose against most of its trading pairs after quarter 1 GDP figures showed that the US economy is recovering at a rapid clip. Against the Pound and the Euro, the Cedi soared by 0.18% and 0.53% to begin the week trading at GHC 7.9566 and GHC 6.8924 from previous week’s opening trade values of GHC 7.9708 and GHC 6.9293 respectively.

On the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), the Cedi was little changed against the Dollar as it began the week trading at GHC 5.7952 from previous week’s trade value of GHC 5.7950. It rose 0.13% and 0.56% against the Pound and the Euro to trade at GHC 8.0440 and GHC 6.9688 at the start of the week against previous week’s trade values of GHC 8.0547 and GHC 7.0084 respectively. The Euro failed to build on its gain registered last week against the Cedi after reports of business activities in the Eurozone showed that the bloc is far from recovery from the pandemic.

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 5.7349 [May 4th, 2021] indicating a 0.49% 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 5.7952 [May 4th, 2021], representing a 1.58% year-to-date appreciation of the Cedi against the US Dollar.