Currency News for February 10th 2020

The Ghanaian Cedi continued its rollercoaster ride against its three major trading partner currencies on both the Bank of Ghana (BoG) inter-bank trading platform and on the Open Forex Market (oanda.com) following a strong investor sentiment surrounding the Ghanaian economy. This comes after international rating agency, Moody’s, upgraded Ghana’s economic outlook from stable to positive. The Cedi opened the week trading at a multi-week high against the US Dollar, the British Pound Sterling, and the Euro.

The Cedi’s performance at the start of the week comes after Ghana drew strong demand for its hard-currency debt, raising a total of USD 3 billion in a Eurobond auction. According to government sources, the issuance was oversubscribed as a total of USD 15 billion bids were tendered. Proceeds from the issuance are expected to shore up an already strong Gross International Reserves which stood at USD 8.4 billion representing 4.0 months of import cover as at the close of the previous year. This should strengthen the hands of the central bank to improve forex liquidity in the year.

On the BoG inter-bank trading platform, the Cedi traded at a 12, 11, and 17 weeks high against the Dollar, the Pound, and the Euro respectively. It traded at GHC 5.3628, GHC 6.9394, and GHC 5.8635 at the start of the week from previous week’s trade values of GHC 5.4144, GHC 7.0496, and GHC 5.9823 representing an appreciation of 0.95%, 1.56%, and 1.99% against the Dollar, the Pound and the Euro respectively. The Pound lost against a host of its trading pairs amid uncertainties clouding the UK economy over the UK’s trade relationship with the EU. The risk of the UK failing to secure a trade deal with the EU has weighed on the currency in recent times.

On the Open Forex Market, the Cedi gained 0.57%, 1.83%, and 1.75%, week-on-week, to begin the week trading at GHC 5.4374, GHC 7.0206, and GHC 5.9471 from previous week’s trading figures of GHC 5.4684, GHC 7.1516, and GHC 6.0532. The Cedi rose to an 18-week high against the single currency after a week of disappointing data in two of Europe’s biggest economies which raised concerns of weaker growth in the Eurozone.

According to the Bank of Ghana inter-bank rates, the Ghanaian Cedi began 2020 at GHC 5.5370 [January 2nd, 2020] against the US Dollar and is currently selling at GHC 5.3628 [February 10th, 2020] indicating a 3.15% year-to-date appreciation. Similarly, on the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), the Ghanaian Cedi traded at GHC 5.6961 [January 2nd, 2020] and is currently trading at GHC 5.4374 [February 10th, 2020], representing a 4.54% year-to-date appreciation of the Cedi against the US Dollar.