The Ghanaian Cedi began the week with a steady performance against its three major trading partner currencies on the Open Forex Market (oanda.com) as it gained momentum to post a recovery from previous week’s losses. On the Bank of Ghana (BoG) inter-bank trading platform, the Cedi posted a mixed against the US Dollar, the British Pound Sterling and the Euro. It built on previous week’s dip against the Dollar but came in strong to post a recovery from previous weeks’ losses against the Pound and the Euro. After the government successfully sold its planned 5-year fixed rate bond which was opened to both resident and non-resident investors, the supply of Cedi on the currency market is expected to receive a boost from offshore investors’ participation in the bond.
The Cedi’s performance this week comes at a time when data released by the Ghana Statistical Services (GSS) revealed that Ghana’s economy grew by 6.8% (year-on-year) in the fourth quarter of 2018, up from 5.5% recorded same period in 2017. According to the GSS, the growth was driven largely by mining & quarrying at 20.0%, health & social work at 12.5%, information & communication at 12.3% and trade & household goods at 8.7%. Across the various sectors of the economy, industry recorded the highest growth of 8.9%, services at 5.8% and agriculture at 4.4%.
On the BoG inter-bank trading platform, the Cedi depreciated by 0.04% to build on previous week’s 0.02% depreciation against the Dollar. It traded at GHC 5.0903 per Dollar at the first trading day of the week from previous week’s trade value of GHC 5.0885 per Dollar. The greenback was supported this week by an upbeat US retail sales data which eased concerns of a sharply slowing US economy. US retail sales data recorded its highest performance in one and half years in March as households increased their purchases of motor vehicles and other range of products. Against the Pound and the Euro, the Cedi gained by 1.21% and 0.82% to trade at GHC 6.5889 and GHC 5.7061 on the first trading day of the week against GHC 6.6695 and GHC 5.7530 at the start of the previous week.
On the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), the Cedi impressively recovered all losses posted against the Dollar, the Pound and the Euro last week. It gained 0.87%, 1.86%, and 1.52% to begin the week at GHC 5.1332, GHC 6.6573, and GHC 5.7670 from previous week’s trade values of GHC 5.1782, GHC 6.7834 and GHC 5.8558 against the Dollar, the Pound and the Euro respectively. The Pound lost to a host of currencies including the Cedi after hopes of a breakthrough in Brexit talks between the government and opposition parties faded. The British government is seeking to forge an agreement between the ruling and the opposition parties that will win the support of lawmakers from both sides of the UK parliament. British Prime Minister, Theresa May, is currently under pressure to resign, raising uncertainties around the Brexit outlook.
According to the Bank of Ghana inter-bank rates, the Ghanaian Cedi began 2019 at GHC 4.8291 [January 2nd, 2019] against the US Dollar and is currently selling at GHC 5.0903 [April 23rd, 2019] indicating a 5.41% year-to-date depreciation. Similarly, on the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), the Ghanaian Cedi traded at GHC 4.8780 [January 2nd, 2019] and is currently trading at GHC 5.1332 [April 23rd, 2019], representing a 5.23% year-to-date depreciation of the Cedi against the US Dollar.