Currency News [July 04, 2022]

The Cedi responded to news that Ghana was heading to the IMF for a bailout with a mixed performance against its three major trading partner currencies. The news did little to lift the value of the local currency against the Dollar as investors thronged to safety in the greenback on recession fears. The Cedi, however, traded higher against the Pound and the Euro.

Last week, Ghana’s government directed its finance ministry to begin formal engagement with the IMF for a program after efforts aimed at increasing revenue yielded less results amid a rise in government expenditure and soaring inflationary environment. A press release from the government noted that the decision is to “provide a balance of payment support as part of a broader effort to quicken Ghana’s build back in the face of challenges induced by COVID-19 pandemic, and recently the Russia-Ukraine crisis.”

On the BoG inter-bank trading platform, the Cedi was down by 0.20% to trade at GHS 7.2381 at the start of the week from last week’s opening trade value of GHS 7.2236 against the Dollar. Against the Pound and the Euro, the Cedi climbed up by 1.19% and 1.38% to begin the week trading at GHS 8.7748 and GHS 7.5521 from last week’s opening quotes of GHS 8.8807 and GHS 7.6578 respectively. The Pound slumped against a host of currencies after the governor of the UK central bank revealed that the UK economy was at a turning point and starting to slow at a time when red-hot inflation is projected to linger.

On the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), the Cedi declined by 0.87% after it traded at GHS 8.0669 at this week’s open from last week’s opening quote of GHS 7.9972 against the Dollar. It inched up by 0.50% and 0.51% against the Pound and the Euro, trading at GHS 9.7725 and GHS 8.4170 at this week’s open from GHS 9.8217 and GHS 8.4592 at last week’s open respectively. The Euro was weighed down by concerns that the Eurozone and other countries were likely to fall into recession over the next year.

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 7.2381 indicating a year-to-date (YTD) loss of 20.45% on the BoG inter-bank trading platform. It is also presently being quoted at GHS 8.0669 on the Open Forex Market (oanda.com) after opening the year at GHS 6.2112 indicating a YTD loss of 29.88%.