Currency News [March 07, 2023]

As the market awaits clues for progress made by the government in its effort to secure a restructuring agreement with bilateral creditors from the president’s State of the Nation address to Ghana’s parliament later in the week, the Cedi opened the first trading day of the week higher from previous week’s level, recovering parts of losses suffered against its three major trading partner currencies. The Cedi after weeks of nursing losses against the Dollar, the Pound, and the Euro, came in strong to post gains against the three on the Open Forex Market (oanda.com).

Analysts believe that the Cedi’s strength at the week’s open comes on the back of improving investor confidence as the market grows optimist that Ghana will be able to reach an agreement with its external creditors as part of the sovereign’s quest to secure a USD 3.0 billion IMF bailout. Market watchers will also be on the lookout for a mention of fiscal policies to be adopted by the government to restore confidence in the domestic economy and bring relief to the citizenry.

On the Bank of Ghana (BoG) inter-bank trading platform, the Cedi lost marginally by 0.01% against the Dollar to trade at GHS 11.0191 at the week’s open from GHS 11.0185 quoted at last week’s open. The Dollar rose against a host of currencies following the US Fed Chair’s testimony before the senate that US interest rates would likely have to be increased by more than previously thought after US inflation and jobs data came in stronger than expected. Against the Pound and the Euro, the Cedi gained by 1.07% and 0.02% to open the week at GHS 13.1127 and GHS 11.6838 from last week’s opening quotes of GHS 13.2542 and GHS 11.6859 respectively.

On the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), the Cedi soared by 1.13%, 0.89%, and 0.36% against the Dollar, the Pound, and the Euro, trading at GHS 12.7554, 15.3420, and GHS 13.5936 at the week’s open from last week’s opening trade values of GHS 12.9015, GHS 15.4792, and GHS 13.6423 respectively. The Cedi rose against the Pound as expectations grow that the Bank of England will pause its tightening cycle given the weaknesses of the UK economy.

The Cedi was quoted at GHC 8.5903 on the first trading day of the year against the Dollar and is currently being sold at GHS 11.0191 indicating a year-to-date (YTD) loss of 28.27% on the BoG inter-bank trading platform. It is also presently being quoted at GHS 12.7554 on the Open Forex Market (oanda.com) after opening the year at GHS 10.0825 indicating a YTD loss of 26.51%.