Currency News [December 4, 2023]

The Cedi opened the week mixed against its three major trading partner currencies on both the Bank of Ghana (BoG) inter-bank trading platform and the Open Forex Market where the Cedi lost to the Dollar and the Pound but came in stronger against the Euro. The Cedi which has been relatively stable in most sections of the year after a turbulent first quarter has begun losing grounds against its three major trading partner currencies having ended last month with a year-to-date (YTD) depreciation of 35.34% compared to a YTD depreciation of 29.61% at the close of the third quarter of the year.

The Cedi’s outlook continues to be hurt by delays in some expected forex inflows despite some macroeconomic variables beginning to point in the right direction. Struggles in reaching and further securing a financing agreement with Ghana’s external creditors continue to delay the disbursement of the second tranche of USD 600 under the IMF’s Extended Credit Facility programme. This coupled with the lack of clarity as to when Ghana’s COCOBOD is likely to conclude its cocoa syndicated loan facility poses a major challenge to the BoG’s capability to continue supporting the local currency at a time when demand for forex is on the rise.

On the BoG inter-bank trading platform, the Cedi lost by 0.30 % and 0.33% to begin the week trading at GHS 11.6304 and GHS 14.6811 from last week’s opening trade values of GHS 11.5958 and GHS 14.6327 respectively. The Dollar strengthened against most of its trading pairs after data showed that the US economy grew faster in the third quarter than initially reported. Against the Euro, the Cedi surged by 0.79% from GHS 12.6822 posted last week to begin this week quoted at 12.5823.

On the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), the Cedi went down by 0.37% and 0.68% against the Dollar and the Pound, haven opened the week trading at GHS 12.0405 and GHS 15.2382 from last week’s opening trade values of GHS 11.9957 and GHS 15.1346 respectively. Against the Euro, the Cedi traded up by 0.47% to open the week trading at GHS 13.0690 from last week’s opening trade value of GHS 13.1310. The Euro fell against a basket of currencies after Eurozone inflation eased by more than expected, fueling bets of early rate cuts in the bloc.

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 11.6304 indicating a YTD loss of 35.39% on the BoG inter-bank trading platform. It is also presently being quoted at GHS 12.0405 on the Open Forex Market (oanda.com) after opening the year at GHS 10.0825 indicating a YTD loss of 19.42%.