Currency News for August 2nd 2021

The Ghana Cedi continued to remain under pressure against its three major trading partner currencies as it opened the week worse off from last week’s opening figures. The Cedi began the week registering losses across the board against the US Dollar, the British Pound Sterling, and the Euro on both the Bank of Ghana (BoG) inter-bank trading platform and the Open Forex Market (oanda.com).

The Cedi’s performance comes after the government in its mid-year budget review indicated plans to stay on its projected fiscal trajectory for the year despite disappointing revenue figures amid rising expenditures. Although the government failed to state its stance on the Cedi’s recent pressure, the government remained hopeful that the Cedi will maintain a stable performance against its majors in the second half of the year.

On the BoG inter-bank trading platform, the Cedi depreciated by 0.03%, 0.55%, and 0.63% to trade at GHC 5.8050, GHC 8.0672, and GHC 6.8968 at the start of the week from last week’s opening trade values of GHC 5.8032, GHC 8.0229, and GHC 6.8537 against the Dollar, the Pound, and the Euro respectively. The Euro rose against the Cedi adding onto its last week’s gains after strong GDP and inflation figures gave indications that the Eurozone was on the path of recovery.

On the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), the Cedi plummeted by 0.44%, 1.24%, and 1.15% to open the week trading at GHC 6.0060, GHC 8.3483, and GHC 7.1328 from last week’s opening trade values of GHC 5.9795, GHC 8.2458, and GHC 7.0518 against the Dollar, the Pound, and the Euro respectively. The Cedi lost against the Dollar as investors continue to seek safety in the greenback amid concerns of the fast pace of delta-variant spread.

According to the BoG 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 5.8050 [August 2nd, 2021] indicating a 0.73% year-to-date depreciation. 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 6.0060 [August 2nd, 2021], representing a 2.00% year-to-date depreciation of the Cedi against the US Dollar.