Currency News [October 7, 2024]

The Cedi rode on the latest announcement that Ghanaian authorities had reached a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to recover some of its recent losses against some of its major trading partner currencies, following the third review of Ghana’s Post-COVID Programme for Economic Growth (PC-PEG) under the Extended Credit Facility arrangement with the Fund. The Cedi opened the week paring some of its losses against the Pound and the Euro on both the Bank of Ghana (BoG) inter-bank trading platform and the Open Forex Market (oanda.com). It however failed to post any gains against the Dollar with investors taking solace in the greenback following rising tensions in the Middle East.

 The IMF mission staff to Ghana has asserted that the country’s performance under the Fund’s assisted programme has been generally satisfactory with all end-June quantitative targets being met and progress on key structural reforms continued. Once validated by the IMF’s executive board, this development will be expected to result in the release of the next tranche of USD 360 million to support critical government expenditures and improve the Cedi’s trajectory. Also sustaining the Cedi’s performance was an announcement by the finance ministry that Ghana had successfully completed its Eurobond debt exchange and consent solicitation process. This initiative seeks to restructure Ghana’s Eurobond debt to expedite the sovereign’s recovery efforts.

On the BoG inter-bank trading platform, the Cedi dipped by 0.51% against the Dollar to open the week trading at GHS 15.8879 from last week’s opening trade figure of GHS 15.8079. Against the Pound and the Euro, the Cedi traded up by 1.86% and 0.96% to trade at GHS 20.7989 and GHS 17.4502 at the week’s opening from last week’s opening trade quotes of GHS 21.1937 and GHS 17.6188 respectively. The Euro weakened against a basket of currencies, feeling some pressure after German industrial orders fell significantly by more than expected in August, adding to signs that manufacturing in the bloc’s largest economy remains stagnant.

On the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), the Cedi was down by 0.71% against the Dollar, having opened the week with a trade value of GHS 15.8972 from last week’s opening trade value of GHS 15.7853. Against the Pound and the Euro, the Cedi was up by 1.49% and 0.98% to open the week trading at GHS 20.8197 and GHS 17.4457 from last week’s opening trade quotes of GHS 21.1350 and GHS 17.6192 respectively. The Pound lost to some of its trading pairs after the Bank of England (BoE) governor was quoted as saying that the BoE might move more aggressively to lower the UK’s borrowing costs.

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 15.8879 indicating a year-to-date (YTD) loss of 33.64% on the BoG inter-bank trading platform. It is also being quoted at GHS 15.8972 on the Open Forex Market (oanda.com) after opening the year at GHS 11.9945 indicating a YTD loss of 32.54%.