Currency News [March 11, 2024]

The Cedi remained pressured at the week’s opening, extending its recent string of weekly weaknesses further as demand for forex by corporates and importers continued to soar. The local unit, however, trimmed its losses at this week’s opening compared to last week, supported by the central bank’s continuous intervention in both the spot and forward forex rates auction markets.

The central bank’s recent intervention in the currency spot market with an injection of USD 17.0 million helped to stabilize the Cedi which has come under renewed pressure from offshore investors repatriation of interest proceeds from the DDEP bonds. The injection is an addition to the over USD 100.0 million in forex support from the Bank of Ghana (BoG) through the spot market and forward sales to bulk oil distribution companies in the first two months of the year. It is expected that parliament’s approval of a USD 300.0 million loan facility last week from the World Bank will help shore up Ghana’s forex reserves to help sustain the Cedi’s outlook.

On the BoG inter-bank trading platform, the Cedi was down by 0.42%, 1.37%, and 0.97% to open the week at trade values of GHS 12.5603, GHS 16.0935, and GHS 13.7164 from last week’s opening trade values of GHS 12.5082, GHS 15.8753, and GHS 13.5849 against the Dollar, the Pound, and the Euro respectively. The Pound was boosted by hopes that the Bank of England will likely delay cutting interest rates compared to other major central banks.

On the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), the Cedi plummeted by 0.86%, 2.08%, and 1.63% to begin the week trading at GHS 12.8382, GHS 16.4748, and GHS 14.0378 from last week’s opening trade quotes of GHS 12.7284, GHS 16.1388, and GHS 13.8127 against the Dollar, the Pound, and the Euro respectively. The Euro strengthened against a basket of currencies including the Cedi after the European Central Bank kept their key benchmark rates at a record high of 4.0% while cautiously laying the ground to lower them later in the year.

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 12.5603 indicating a YTD loss of 5.65% on the BoG inter-bank trading platform. It is also presently being quoted at GHS 12.8382 on the Open Forex Market (oanda.com) after opening the year at GHS 11.9945 indicating a YTD loss of 7.03%.