Currency News [January 29, 2024]

The Cedi reacted modestly to the news of the receipt of the disbursement of USD 600.0 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as it opened the week mixed against its three major trading partner currencies on the Bank of Ghana (BoG) inter-bank trading platform. On the Open Forex Market, the Cedi fell across the board against the Dollar, the Pound, and the Euro as demand for forex by importers seeking to restock for the year outweighed the supply of forex. To meet these demand pressures, the central bank last week sold USD 11.0 million on the currency spot market to give the local unit some reprieve.

According to the Governor of the central bank at a press briefing earlier this week, the Cedi’s performance in the near term is expected to be dependent on improved inflows from the recently received second tranche from the IMF’s Extended Credit Facility, the domestic gold purchase programme, remittances, and forex purchases from mining & oil companies.

On the BoG inter-bank trading platform, the Cedi lost by 0.36% to open the week at a trade value of GHS 12.0110 from last week’s opening trade value of GHS 11.9682. Against the Pound and the Euro, the Cedi traded up by 0.07% and 0.48% to open the week trading at GHS 15.2239 and GHS 12.9775 from last week’s opening trade quotes of GHS 15.2343 and 13.0397 respectively. The Euro weakened against a basket of trading pairs including the Cedi hurt by regional economic weakness, prompting the market to estimate that the European Central Bank will commence cutting rates soon.

On the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), the Cedi softened by 2.39%, 2.28%, and 1.78% to trade at GHS 12.3765, GHS 15.7177, and GHS 13.4037 at the week’s opening from last week’s opening trade values of GHS 12.0880, GHS 15.3677, and GHS 13.1688 against the Dollar, the Pound, and the Euro respectively. The Dollar added to its gains against the Cedi as the release of US GDP estimates revealed that the US economy grew at a 3.3% annualized rate in the last quarter of 2023, higher than expected.

The Cedi was quoted at GHC 11.8859 on the first trading day of the year against the Dollar and is currently being sold at GHS 12.0110 indicating a YTD loss of 1.03% on the BoG inter-bank trading platform. It is also presently being quoted at GHS 12.3765 on the Open Forex Market (oanda.com) after opening the year at GHS 11.9945 indicating a YTD loss of 3.18%.