Currency News [May 13, 2024]

The Cedi extended its free fall against its three major trading partner currencies on both the Bank of Ghana (BoG) inter-bank trading platform and the Open Forex Market (oanda.com) as the woes of the local unit continue to worsen prompting the governor of Ghana’s central bank to make some assurances. In a speech read on his behalf in Accra last week, the governor affirmed that the Cedi has in recent times faced a headwind, however, the central bank has built up enough reserves to tackle the seeming pressures on the currency.

The Cedi’s troubles according to the international news agency, Bloomberg, have been exacerbated by a decline in cocoa earnings as exports fell by about USD 500.0 million between January and February mainly as a result of poor weather conditions and swollen shoot disease. Some expected inflows including the recently announced USD 200.0 from the ECOWAS Bank for Investment & Development and USD 600.0 million under the IMF’s Extended Credit Facility programme will be expected to shore up the supply of forex to give the Cedi some respite in the medium-term.

On the BoG inter-bank trading platform, the Cedi went down by 1.87%, 1.78%, and 2.05% to begin the week at trade values of GHS 13.7299, GHS 17.2475, and GHS 14.8238 from last week’s opening trade quotes of GHS 13.4775, GHS 16.9453, and GHS 14.5266 against the Dollar, the Pound, and the Euro respectively. The Pound stayed strong against a basket of currencies in the wake of data that showed the UK’s economy grew the most in nearly three years in the first quarter of 2024, ending the shallow recession it entered in the second half of last year.

On the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), the Cedi traded down by 1.97%, 1.79%, and 2.10% to open the week being offered at GHS 14.0475, GHS 17.6203, and GHS 15.1504 from last week’s opening trade quotes of GHS 13.7765, GHS 17.3107, and GHS 14.8390 against the Dollar, the Pound, and the Euro respectively. The Dollar was held this week against other international major currencies after several Fed officials pushed back against the idea that rate cuts are a certainty this 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 13.7299 indicating a YTD loss of 15.49% on the BoG inter-bank trading platform. It is also being quoted at GHS 14.0475 on the Open Forex Market (oanda.com) after opening the year at GHS 11.9945 indicating a YTD loss of 17.12%.