Currency News [March 18, 2024]

The Cedi extended its struggles against its major trading partner currencies this week on both the Bank of Ghana (BoG) inter-bank trading platform and the Open Forex Market (oanda.com) ahead of March’s sitting of the Monetary Policy Committee. The Cedi has remained troubled in most part of the year on the back of demand pressures amid a limited supply of forex as Ghana’s Gross International Reserves remain below three months of import cover despite the suspension of interest obligations to offshore investors.

The Cedi’s performance comes amidst a call from the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) who has urged Ghanaian authorities to exercise fiscal prudence and implement economic reforms aimed at fostering long-term prosperity for the citizenry. The MD of the IMF made the call when she met the President as part of her first official visit to Ghana. Ghana is currently under a 3-year IMF programme for USD 3.0 billion support.

On the BoG inter-bank trading platform, the Cedi traded down by 0.85%, 0.18%, and 0.55% to begin the week at trade values of GHS 12.6673, GHS 16.1230, and GHS 13.7921 from last week’s opening trade quotes of GHS 12.5603, 16.0935, and GHS 13.7164 against the Dollar, the Pound, and the Euro respectively. The Dollar received a boost to add onto its gains against the Cedi after hotter-than-anticipated US inflation data ramped up fears of hawkish signals from the Fed.

On the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), The Cedi declined by 0.77% and 0.32% to trade at GHS 12.9372 and GHS 14.0831 at this week’s opening from last week’s opening trade quotes of GHS 12.8382 and GHS 14.0378 against the Dollar and the Euro respectively. The Euro edged higher against the local unit and other international currencies despite inflation in the bloc falling closer to the European Central Bank’s 2.0% medium-term inflation target in February. Against the Pound, the Cedi gathered some momentum to recover 0.01% of its recent losses as it traded at GHS 16.4727 at this week’s opening from GHS 16.4748 at last week’s opening.

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 12.6673 indicating a YTD loss of 6.55% on the BoG inter-bank trading platform. It is also presently being quoted at GHS 12.9372 on the Open Forex Market (oanda.com) after opening the year at GHS 11.9945 indicating a YTD loss of 7.86%.