Currency News [September 05, 2022]

The Ghana Cedi began the week paring some of its losses against its three major trading partner currencies on the back of news pointing to improving forex liquidity. The Cedi this week registered its first week-on-week gain in more than two months against the Dollar on the Open Forex Market (oanda.com) following news that Ghana had received USD 750.0 million from the African Export-Import Bank as part of a USD 1.0 billion loan agreement to support various development programs.

Also sustaining the Cedi was news that Ghana and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are poised to reach and finalize on an agreement before the year draws to a close. This was revealed by the managing director of the IMF in a meeting with Ghana’s president earlier this week. Analysts believe that this revelation is likely to calm investor nervousness and boost investor confidence in the Ghanaian economy.

On the BoG inter-bank trading platform, the Cedi traded lower by 0.15% to begin the week at GHS 8.2426 from last week’s opening quote of GHS 8.2306. The Dollar remained in demand on growing expectations that the US Fed will continue with its aggressive monetary tightening after the release of strong jobs data. Against the Pound and the Euro, the Cedi was up by 1.47% and 0.45% to begin the week at GHS 9.4922 and GHS 8.1829 from last week’s opening trade values of GHS 9.6339 and GHS 8.2201 respectively.

On the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), the Cedi appreciated across the board, up by 0.27%, 1.92%, and 0.77%, selling at GHS 10.0253, GHS 11.5297, and 9.9476 at the week’s open from last week’s opening trade values of GHS 10.0527, GHS 11.7553, and GHS 10.0224 against the Dollar, the Pound, and the Euro respectively. The Euro weakened against a host of currencies including the Cedi after Russia’s halt to gas supplies down its main pipeline to Europe heightened fears about the region’s deepening energy crisis.

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 8.2426 indicating a year-to-date (YTD) loss of 37.17% on the BoG inter-bank trading platform. It is also presently being quoted at GHS 10.0253 on the Open Forex Market (oanda.com) after opening the year at GHS 6.2112 indicating a YTD loss of 61.41%.