Currency News for September 7th 2020

The Ghana Cedi continued to lose steam against the US Dollar as it failed to recover from several weeks of losses on the Bank of Ghana (BoG) inter-bank trading platform. It, however, firmed up against the British Pound Sterling and the Euro as it gained traction to recover part of previous week’s losses against the pair on the BoG trading platform. On the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), the local currency repeated a similar performance as registered on the inter-bank trading platform.

The Cedi’s extension of its losing streak against the Dollar comes after a central bank’s report revealed that Ghana’s total exports contracted by 8.4% in the first half of the year buoyed by a contraction in the prices of some of the country’s key export commodities. The BoG noted that cocoa prices contracted by 7.7% as a result of low demand during the lockdown periods whilst crude oil exports declined sharply by 37.9%. A slower contraction in imports, however, failed to impact positively in the nation’s trading account as these developments culminated in a lower trade surplus compared to the same period last year.

On the BoG inter-bank trading platform, the Cedi depreciated by 0.16% against the Dollar to trade at GHC 5.6969 at the start of the week from previous week’s trade value of GHC 5.6876. The Dollar strengthened against the Cedi despite weak US job growth report in August which erased confidence in economic recovery in the US. Against the Pound and the Euro, the Cedi appreciated by 1.27% and 0.86% to begin the week trading at GHC 7.5069 and GHC 6.7368 from GHC 7.6038 and GHC 6.7952 traded last week.

On the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), the Cedi declined by 0.06% to trade at GHC 5.7925 against the Dollar from GHC 5.7889 traded last week. It however rose by 1.11% and 0.77% against the Pound and the Euro to trade at GHC 7.6417 and GHC 6.8502 at the start of the week from previous week’s trade values of GHC 7.7271 and GHC 6.9032 respectively. The Cedi recovered part of previous week’s losses against the Pound after the UK warned that it was preparing to leave the European Union without an agreement.

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 5.6969 [September 7th, 2020] indicating a 2.89% 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 5.7925 [September 7th, 2020], representing a 1.69% year-to-date depreciation of the Cedi against the US Dollar.