Currency News [April 11, 2022]

The Cedi rallied this week adding to gains posted last week on the Open Forex Market (oanda.com) as the measures outlined by the government to cushion the economy begin to kick in. Last week, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) in a move to curtail illicit dealings in foreign currencies advised the public to desist from pricing, advertising, receipting and making payments in forex within the shores of Ghana without the requisite license and authorization from the regulator.

The Cedi similarly received a boost after the central bank released its calendar for multiple-price forex forward auction for the second quarter, assuring investors and traders of the bank’s continuous participation in the currency space. The auction calendar revealed a proposed total amount of USD 350.0 million to be sold in the second quarter with USD 50.0 million to be sold fortnightly.

On the BoG inter-bank trading platform, the Cedi declined marginally against the Dollar as it lost by 0.01% from GHS 7.1156 quoted at last week’s open to GHS 7.1161 this week. The greenback gained against a host of currencies supported by high US bond yields ahead of the release of inflation data which is expected to reinforce bets of aggressive monetary tightening. Against the Pound and the Euro, the Cedi came in strong to recover from last week’s dip. The Cedi appreciated by 0.56% and 0.96% to trade at GHS 9.2808 and GHS 7.7501 at this week’s open from last week’s opening quotes of GHS 9.3328 and GHS 7.8256 against the Pound and the Euro respectively.

On the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), the Cedi appreciated by 0.01%, 0.68%, and 1.08% to trade at GHS 7.5817, GHS 9.8766, and GHS 8.2575 from last week’s opening trade values of GHS 7.5822, GHS 9.9445, and GHS 8.3473 against the Dollar, the Pound, and the Euro respectively. News that the incumbent French President, Emmanuel Macron, beat far-right challenger Marine Le Pen in the first round of presidential voting did little to lift the Euro against the Cedi.

The Cedi was quoted at GHC 6.0091 on the first trading day of the year against the Dollar and is currently being sold at GHS 7.1161 indicating a year-to-date (YTD) loss of 18.42% on the BoG inter-bank trading platform. It is also presently being quoted at GHS 7.5817 on the Open Forex Market (oanda.com) after opening the year at GHS 6.2112 indicating a YTD loss of 22.06%.