Currency News [September 24, 2024]

The Cedi opened the week extending its losses 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), failing to capitalize on a raft of interest rate cuts in the advanced economies with the US Federal Reserve announcing a hefty 0.5% rate cut last week. Rate cuts in the US, the UK, and the Eurozone amid a series of disappointing economic data from these regions of the world have barely had any positive impact on the local currency as the Cedi continues to face demand and election uncertainty pressures.

Analysts, however, expect the Cedi to hold firm against some of its international trading pairs on the back of the recently announced Q2 Gross Domestic Product data which has revealed that the Ghanaian economy expanded by 6.9%, the highest quarterly growth in five years. In response to this development, the finance ministry has noted that the economy’s robust recovery is in response to the macroeconomic stability and growth interventions that the government is pursuing under the IMF-supported PC-PEG programme. It is also expected the inflow of USD 250.0 million from the World Bank under the Ghana Energy Sector Recovery Programme will help keep the Cedi stable in the near term.

On the BoG inter-bank trading platform, the Cedi plunged by 0.35%, 1.82%, and 0.66% to open the week at trade values of GHS 15.7280, GHS 21.0597, and GHS 17.5425 from last week’s opening trade quotes of GHS 15.6726, GHS 20.6832, and GHS 17.4277 against the Dollar, the Pound, and the Euro respectively. The Pound added to its gains against the Cedi boosted by data showing that British retail sales rose by a stronger-than-expected 1% in August, whilst growth in July was further revised upwards.

On the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), the Cedi traded lower by 0.18%, 1.22%, and 0.30% to begin the week trading at GHS 15.7359, GHS 20.9654, and GHS 17.5153 from last week’s opening trade quotes of GHS 15.7081, GHS 20.7135, and GHS 17.4623 against the Dollar, the Pound, and the Euro respectively. The Dollar quickly recovered from rate cut-induced losses against some of its trading pairs as the greenback received a boost from a steady business activity in September with average prices charged for goods and services rising at their fastest pace in six months, possibly pointing to an acceleration in inflation in the coming months.

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 15.7280 indicating a year-to-date (YTD) loss of 32.29% on the BoG inter-bank trading platform. It is also being quoted at GHS 15.7359 on the Open Forex Market (oanda.com) after opening the year at GHS 11.9945 indicating a YTD loss of 31.19%.