Currency News [September 25, 2023]

The Cedi opened the week mixed against its three major trading partner currencies as it extended its gains against the Pound and the Euro but failed to recover from its persistent marginal losses against the Dollar on both the Bank of Ghana (BoG) inter-bank trading platform and the Open Forex Market (oanda.com). The Cedi’s performance this week comes after an unexpected steep decline in the inflation rate forced the Monetary Policy Committee of the central bank to pulse its policy hiking cycle to reassess the inflation outlook.

In addressing the Cedi’s performance over the year, the Committee noted that the relative stability in the forex market reflected improved foreign exchange supply, including IMF flows, the BoG’s Domestic Gold Purchase Programme, and purchases of repatriated export proceeds from mining companies and oil & gas producers, which amounted to US$1.9 billion as at end August 2023. The next disbursement under the ongoing IMF programme will be expected to sustain the Cedi’s outlook ahead of demand pressures during the upcoming festive season.

On the BoG inter-bank trading platform, the Cedi depreciated by 0.03% to open the week at a trade value of GHS 11.0813 from last week’s opening trade value of GHS 11.0778 against the Dollar. Against the Pound and the Euro, the Cedi ticked higher, recording an appreciation of 1.42% and 0.89% from last week’s opening trade values of GHS 13.7332 and GHS 11.8451 to open this week trading at GHS 13.5381 and GHS 11.7396 respectively. The Pound nursed losses against a basket of currencies including the Cedi after the Bank of England held its rates, the first policy stay since December 2021 on the back of signs of economic growth slowdown.

On the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), the Cedi dipped by 0.21% against the Dollar after it traded at GHS 11.5323 at the week’s open from last week’s opening trade value of GHS 11.5076. The Cedi continued its impressive run against the Pound and the Euro with gains of GHS 1.12% and 0.31% to trade at GHS 14.0992 and GHS 12.2476 at the week’s open, having climbed up from last week’s opening trade quotes of GHS 14.2586 and GHS 12.2855 respectively. The Euro declined against some peers following the release of PMI data which revealed that the Eurozone’s manufacturing and service sectors harboured some weaknesses.

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 11.0813 indicating a YTD loss of 29.00% on the BoG inter-bank trading platform. It is also presently being quoted at GHS 11.5323 on the Open Forex Market (oanda.com) after opening the year at GHS 10.0825 indicating a YTD loss of 14.38%.