Currency News for January 18th 2021

The Ghanaian Cedi at the start of the week extended its weekly gains against its three major trading pairs on the Open Forex Market (oanda.com). The Cedi looks set to maintain a resilient performance in the first month of the year to defy its relative underperformance often observed in the earlier parts of preceding years. On the Bank of Ghana (BoG) inter-bank trading platform, the Cedi was little changed against the US Dollar, gained against the Euro but lost steam against the British Pound Sterling.

The local currency’s recent strong performance against some of its currency pairs comes on the back of measures outlined by the central bank to continue to support the Cedi in 2021 through its bi-weekly forex forward auctions as well as accumulation of forex to meet any surprise surge in demand. The Cedi could, however, erase some of its gains after a Moody’s report showed that Ghana’s economy could come under pressure from rising debt levels which are projected to hit 80% of GDP by the close of the year. This development could pose challenges for the managers of the economy as they prepare to enter into the Eurobond market to raise funds to support the budget.

On the BoG inter-bank trading platform, the Cedi moved marginally from GHC 5.7634 traded last week to GHC 5.7632 this week. The Cedi firmed against the Dollar this week after US Treasury yields began to ease off from its recent strengthening. The Dollar was also hurt by developments from the COVID front as many parts of the US are low on ICU beds. Against the Pound, the Cedi lost by 0.78% to trade at GHC 7.8229 at the start of the week from GHC 7.7627 traded last week. The Cedi traded at GHC 6.9587 against the Euro to post a gain of 0.57% from a trade value of GHC 6.9985 recorded last week.

On the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), the Cedi appreciated by 0.53%, 0.06%, and 1.30% to trade at GHC 5.8536, GHC 7.9424, and GHC 7.0676 from previous week’s trade values of GHC 5.8848, GHC 7.9472, and GHC 7.1609 against the Dollar, the Pound, and the Euro respectively. The Cedi built on previous week’s gain against the Pound as concerns that the Bank of England may implement a negative interest rate regime in the UK continue to linger.

According to the Bank of Ghana inter-bank rates, the Ghanaian Cedi began the year 2021 at GHC 5.7631 [January 4th, 2021] against the US Dollar and is currently selling at GHC 5.7632 [January 18th, 2021] indicating a 0.00% year-to-date depreciation. Similarly, on the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), the Ghanaian Cedi traded at GHC 5.8885 [January 4th, 2020] and is currently trading at GHC 5.8536 [January 18th, 2021], representing a 0.59% year-to-date appreciation of the Cedi against the US Dollar.