Currency News for August 24th 2020

The Ghanaian Cedi at the start of the week posted a mixed performance against its three trading partner currencies on both the Bank of Ghana (BoG) inter-bank trading platform and the Open Forex Market (oanda.com). On the BoG inter-bank trading platform, the Cedi recovered some of its losses recorded against the British Pound Sterling and the Euro but lost steam against the US Dollar.

The Cedi’s performance comes after international rating agency, Fitch, warned that Ghana’s sovereign ratings could be downgraded to negative from stable if the expanding fiscal deficit and public debt issues are not properly addressed. A downgrade in Ghana’s ratings may further raise uneasiness among foreign investors which may lead to portfolio reversals at the expense of the local currency.

On the BoG inter-bank trading platform, the Cedi depreciated by 0.04% against the Dollar to trade at GHC 5.6862 at the start of the week from previous week’s trading figure of GHC 5.6837. Against the Pound and the Euro, the Cedi surged by 0.21% and 0.42% to begin the week trading at GHC 7.4302 and GHC 6.7169 from GHC 7.4457 and GHC 6.7449 traded last week. The Cedi ended seven weeks of consecutive decline against the Pound on lingering concerns over the lack of progress in trade talks between the UK and the Eurozone.

On the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), the Cedi declined by 0.40% and 0.31% to begin the week at GHC 5.7950 and GHC 7.5851 from previous week’s trade values of GHC 5.7722 and GHC 7.5618 respectively. The Dollar rose against many of its trading pairs after data showed a strong uptick in US business activity, giving an indication that the world’s largest economy may post a recovery earlier than expected. Against the Euro, the Cedi strengthened by 0.05% to trade at GHC 6.8424 at the start of the week from previous week’s trade value of GHC 6.8461.

According to the Bank of Ghana inter-bank rates, the Ghanaian Cedi began the year 2020 at GHC 5.5370 [January 2nd, 2020] against the US Dollar and is currently selling at GHC 5.6862 [August 24th, 2020] indicating a 2.69% year-to-date depreciation. 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 5.7950 [August 24th, 2020], representing a 1.74% year-to-date depreciation of the Cedi against the US Dollar.