Currency News for April 26th 2021

The local currency was mixed at the start of the week 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).

The Cedi’s performance comes at a time when it is expected to come under pressure after the central bank lowered its offer amount for the sale of Dollars in its bi-weekly forex forward auctions. The BoG at the end of first quarter of the year cut its offer amount from USD 50.00 million to USD 25.00 million for the remainder of the year. Proceeds realized from the recent Eurobond sale is, however, expected to shore up the reserves of the central bank which should enable the bank to continue to support the local currency on the spot market.

On the BoG inter-bank trading platform, the Cedi appreciated by 0.01% and 0.62% to open the week trading at GHC 5.7336 and GHC 7.9708 from previous week’s opening trade values of GHC 5.7343 and GHC 8.0205 against the Dollar and the Pound respectively. Against the Euro, the Cedi lost by 0.46% to open the week at GHC 6.9293 from previous week’s opening trade value of GHC 6.8976. The Euro gained traction against the local currency after manufacturing data from the Eurozone pointed to strong growth at a time when some economies in the bloc remain under lockdown restrictions.

On the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), the Cedi depreciated by 0.05% and 0.74% to trade at GHC 5.7950 and GHC 7.0084 at the start of the week from previous week’s opening trade figures of GHC 5.7924 and GHC 6.9570 against the Dollar and the Euro respectively. The Dollar rose against most of its trading pairs buoyed by better-than-forecast US jobless claims and reports that the Biden-led administration was considering raising capital gains tax for wealthy individuals. Against the Pound, the Cedi strengthened by 0.09% to trade at GHC 8.0547 from previous week’s trade figure of GHC 8.0620.

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 5.7336 [April 26th, 2021] indicating a 0.51% year-to-date appreciation. Similarly, on the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), the Ghanaian Cedi traded at GHC 5.8885 [January 4th, 2021] and is currently trading at GHC 5.7950 [April 26th, 2021], representing a 1.59% year-to-date appreciation of the Cedi against the US Dollar.