Currency News for August 16th 2021

The Cedi at the start of the week failed to hold onto its gains registered last week as it opened the week nursing losses against its three major trading partner currencies on the Open Forex Market (oanda.com). On the Bank of Ghana’s (BoG) inter-bank trading platform, the Cedi further extended its weekly losses against the US Dollar for the thirteenth consecutive time.

The Cedi is coming under pressure against some of its major trading peers as demand for forex continues to rise amid tight liquidity challenges. Strong demand for forex by importers and businesses has seen the central bank reverse its earlier projected sale of USD 25.0 million in its bi-weekly forex forward rates auctions. The latest auction results revealed that the BoG accepted USD 50.0 million out of a total of USD 94.0 million worth of bids submitted. The BoG remains in a good position to continue to intervene in the currency market to support the local currency with Ghana’s improved Gross International Reserves position.

On the BoG inter-bank trading platform, the Cedi dipped by 0.05% and 0.30% to open the week trading at GHC 5.8260 and GHC 6.8642 from last week’s open trade values of GHC 5.8232 and GHC 6.8439 against the Dollar and the Euro respectively. The Dollar gained against some of its trading peers including the Cedi as the global safe-haven received a boost from concerns of a COVID-induced global economic slowdown despite disappointing US inflation data. Against the Pound, the Cedi recovered part of last week’s loss as it strengthened by 0.02% to trade at 8.0696 at the week open from last week’s open trade figure of GHC 8.0710.

On the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), the Cedi lost by 0.26%, 0.17%, and 0.53% to trade at GHC 6.0138, GHC 8.3307, and GHC 7.0867 at the start of the week from previous week’s open trade values of GHC 5.9982, GHC 8.3163, and GHC 7.04931 against the Dollar, the Pound, and the Euro respectively. The Pound jumped against the Cedi on solid UK employment data as the number of employees on British companies’ payrolls edged closer to pre-pandemic levels.

According to the BoG 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 5.8260 [August 16th, 2021] indicating a 1.09% year-to-date (ytd) 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 6.0138 [August 16th, 2021], representing a 2.13% ytd depreciation against the US Dollar.