Currency News [November 18, 2024]

The Cedi maintained its impressive recovery which began last week as it opened this week recording gains across the board against its three major international trading partner currencies on both the Bank of Ghana (BoG) inter-bank trading platform and the Open Forex Market (oanda.com). The Cedi’s strong recovery over the past two weeks has cumulatively led to the Cedi ploughing back nearly 3.0% of its value lost against the US Dollar since the start of the year. It is currently trading at its highest since mid-October against the Dollar.

The Cedi’s recovery comes amidst assurances from the governor of Ghana’s central bank to investors and the general public about the central bank’s capability to support the local currency as there exist sufficient forex reserves to support such interventions. The central bank’s recent timely intervention in the face of the sharp increase in the demand for forex by importers in both the spot market and forward market to bulk oil distributors has been highly supportive of the local unit which had hitherto lost nearly 40% of its value.

On the BoG inter-bank trading platform, the Cedi traded up by 2.27%, 3.94%, and 3.04% to open the week being offered at GHS 15.9380, GHS 20.1615, and GHS 16.8434 from last week’s opening trade quotes of GHS 16.3082, GHS 20.9886, and GHS 17.3718 against the Dollar, the Pound, and the Euro respectively. The Pound lost against the Cedi and other trading pairs after data from the UK last week showed that the UK economy contracted unexpectedly in September and growth slowed to just 0.1% over the third quarter.

On the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), the Cedi soared by 2.58%, 4.44%, and 3.64% to trade at GHS 15.9964, GHS 20.2248, and GHS 16.8967 at the start of the week from last week’s opening trade quotes of GHS 16.4206, GHS 21.1645, and GHS 17.5348 against the Dollar, the Pound, and the Euro respectively. The Euro fell against a host of currencies including the Cedi over growing concerns that the European Union will bear the brunt of higher US tariffs under the incoming Trump administration.

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 15.9380 indicating a year-to-date (YTD) loss of 34.06% on the BoG inter-bank trading platform. It is also being quoted at GHS 15.9964 on the Open Forex Market (oanda.com) after opening the year at GHS 11.9945 indicating a YTD loss of 33.36%.