Currency News for July 19th 2021

The Ghana Cedi was mixed at the start of the week against its three major trading partner currencies as it sustained losses against the US Dollar but gained momentum to post gains against the British Pound Sterling and the Euro on both the Bank of Ghana (BoG) inter-bank trading platform and the Open Forex Market (oanda.com).

The Cedi’s performance comes at a time when international rating agency, Fitch Solutions, is projecting Ghana to be the fastest growing economy in the sub-Saharan region with an expected growth rate of 4.8%. The growth rate will be supported by a rebound in private consumption and increase in exports. These developments which are likely to attract investments suffer a potential headwind as rising number of cases linked to the delta-variant leads investors to take cautious stance.

On the BoG inter-bank trading platform, the Cedi weakened by 0.28% to begin the week trading at GHC 5.7992 from last week’s opening trade value of GHC 5.7829. The Dollar builts on its previous weeks’ gains buoyed by its safe-haven appeal and rising US inflation figures. Against the Pound and the Euro, the Cedi built on its previous week’s gains as it rose by 1.23% and 0.19% respectively. It traded at GHC 7.9281 and GHC 6.8458 at the start of the week from last week’s opening trade figures of GHC 8.0272 and GHC 6.8585.

On the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), the Cedi plunged by 0.25% to open the week trading at GHC 5.9588 against the Dollar, up from GHC 5.9437 traded at the start of last week. It recovered from its losses sustained last week as it soared by 0.98% and 0.32% to trade at GHC 8.1696 and GHC 7.0292 at the start of the week from previous week’s trade values of GHC 8.2503 and GHC 7.0515 against the Pound and the Euro respectively. The Cedi rose against the Pound despite strong gains in the latest UK data where employment declined and wages went up strongly.

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 5.7992 [July 19th, 2021] indicating a 0.63% year-to-date depreciation. 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 5.9588 [July 19th, 2021], representing a 1.19% year-to-date depreciation of the Cedi against the US Dollar.