Currency News [June 5, 2023]

The Cedi failed to ride on improving risk sentiments after calm began to slowly creep into the global financial market following the US Senate’s passage of a bill last week to suspend the US debt ceiling to ward off what would have been the first-ever default of the world’s largest economy. Subsequently, the Cedi opened the week building on its recent losses on the Open Forex Market (oanda.com) against its three major trading peers. On the Bank of Ghana (BoG) inter-bank trading platform, the Cedi was mixed against its three major trading partner currencies, declining against the Pound but posting gains against the Dollar and the Euro.

The renewed pressures on the local currency come on the back of a rise in corporate demand despite the central bank’s continuous intervention in both the spot market and the forward market for bulk oil companies. Hints of additional rate hikes among the major central banks have also weighed on developing and emerging market currencies, as portfolio outflows worsen the Cedi’s outlook.

On the BoG inter-bank trading platform, the Cedi gained by 0.03% each against the Dollar and the Euro after opening the week at trade values of GHS 10.9775 and GHS 11.7567 from last week’s opening trade quotes of GHS 10.9810 and GHS 11.7600 respectively. The Euro nursed losses against some of its trading peers after softer-than-expected Eurozone inflation data dimmed the bloc’s outlook for extended rate hikes. Against the Pound, the Cedi traded low by 0.76% from last week’s open trade value of GHS 13.5440 to open this week at GHS 13.6472.

On the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), the Cedi plummeted by 0.84%, 1.39%, and 0.68% to open the week trading at GHS 11.3237, GHS 14.0640, and GHS 12.1189 from last week’s trade values of GHS 11.2292, GHS 13.8714, and GHS 12.0375 against the Dollar, the Pound, and the Euro respectively. The Dollar was supported by stronger jobs data which boosted expectations that the Fed may continue hiking US rates.

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 10.9775 indicating a year-to-date (YTD) loss of 27.79% on the BoG inter-bank trading platform. It is also presently being quoted at GHS 11.3237 on the Open Forex Market (oanda.com) after opening the year at GHS 10.0825 indicating a YTD loss of 12.31%.