Currency News [December 19, 2022]

The Cedi extended its rollercoaster ride against its three major trading partner currencies, recording impressive gains against the Dollar, the Pound, and the Euro at the week’s open on the Bank of Ghana (BoG) interbank trading platform and the Open Forex Market (oanda.com). The Cedi’s comeback began last week when it pared some of its losses to accumulate over 10.0% week-on-week gain against the greenback.

An announcement of a domestic debt exchange program set the tone for the local currency’s recovery as it signaled a path to debt sustainability in Ghana’s bid to access a USD 3.0 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) Extended Credit Facility (ECF). The Cedi further received a boost following the announcement of an IMF staff-level agreement being reached last week, a precondition to Ghana subsequently securing an IMF board/management approval for the ECF program. The government asserts that these developments have aided Ghana’s stability efforts and have in particular contributed significantly to the Cedi’s rebound.

On the BoG inter-bank trading platform, the Cedi edged up by 30.43%, 31.05%, and 30.07% to trade at GHS 8.0050, GHS 9.7509, and GHS 8.4923 at the week’s open from last week’s opening quotes of GHS 11.5058, GHS 14.1417, and GHS 12.1440 against the Dollar, the Pound, and the Euro respectively. The Pound fell against the Cedi over concerns that the Bank of England may be nearing the end of its tightening cycle as the UK economy heads into a recession.

On the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), the Cedi traded higher by 30.06%, 30.52%, and 29.54% to open the week trading at GHS 9.2141, GHS 11.2202, and GHS 9.7790 from last week’s opening trade values of GHS 13.1738, GHS 16.1482, and GHS 13.8795 against the Dollar, the Pound, and the Euro respectively. The Euro fell against some of its trading pairs after the European Central Bank hiked the bloc’s interest rate while signaling additional hikes in 2023 at a time when some economies have begun witnessing a slowdown in inflation numbers.

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 8.0050 indicating a year-to-date (YTD) loss of 33.21% on the BoG inter-bank trading platform. It is also presently being quoted at GHS 9.2141 on the Open Forex Market (oanda.com) after opening the year at GHS 6.2112 indicating a YTD loss of 48.35%.