Currency News for October 18, 2021

The Ghana Cedi fell across the board against its three major trading peers on both the Bank of Ghana (BoG) inter-bank trading platform and the Open Forex Market (oanda.com) as rising energy costs increases Dollar purchases.

As against earlier forecasts where the Cedi was expected to close 2021 better than last year’s performance, the Cedi’s depreciation is deteriorating at a much faster pace and is on course to beat last year’s 4.09 year-to-date (ytd) depreciation. Consistent intervention by the central bank to shore up the supply of forex in the local currency space has yielded lesser results as demand continues to outstrip forex in circulation. Ghana’s improved reserve position is expected to drive the BoG’s regular intervention to slow down the Cedi’s depreciation.

On the BoG inter-bank trading platform, the Cedi lost by 0.23%, 0.98%, and 0.48% to begin the week quoted at GHC 5.8851, GHC 8.0744, and GHC 6.8271 from last week’s opening trade values of GHC 5.8717, GHC 7.9961, and GHC 6.7948 against the Dollar, the Pound, and the Euro respectively. The Dollar added to its weekly gains against the Cedi after US inflation rate printed higher than expected increasing bets that the Fed will begin asset tapering earlier than expected.

On the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), the Cedi plunged by 0.40%, 1.18%, and 0.66% as it began the week quoted at GHC 6.0982, GHC 8.3748, and GHC 7.0729 from last week’s open trading figures of GHC 6.0742, GHC 8.2772, and GHC 7.0263 against the Dollar, the Pound, and the Euro respectively. The Pound-Cedi exchange rate strengthened on expectations of a Bank of England rate hike happening as early as December.

According to the BoG inter-bank rates, the Ghana Cedi began the year 2021 at GHC 5.7631 [January 4th, 2021] against the US Dollar and is currently quoted at GHC 5.8851 [October 18, 2021] indicating a 2.12% 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 6.0982 [October 18, 2021], representing a 3.56% ytd depreciation against the US Dollar.