Currency News [May 27, 2024]

The Cedi extended its losing streak this week as pressures continued to mount on the currency unit despite calls for calm from both the finance ministry and the central bank. The Cedi this week plunged from the previous week’s levels recorded on both the Bank of Ghana (BoG) inter-bank trading platform and the Open Forex Market as speculative activities set in following growing concerns of a shortage of forex to meet the surging demand for forex by both corporate bodies and importers.

Commenting on the performance of the local currency last week, the finance minister attributed the recent pressures on the Cedi to the broad strengthening of the Dollar against most majors, payment to contractors & Independent Power Producers, and speculation. He, however, assured that some expected inflows totaling over USD 2.3 billion before the year’s end would help shore up the supply of forex to give the local unit some respite. In a bid to bring some calm to the volatile currency environment, the central bank governor has also outlined some measures to streamline currency activities within the domestic space including plans to set up a task force to monitor forex bureaus to ensure compliance.

On the BoG inter-bank trading platform, the Cedi was down by 1.20%, 1.75%, and 1.16% to trade at GHS 14.0120, GHS 17.9003, and GHS 15.2149 at this week’s opening from last week’s opening trade values of GHS 13.8464, GHS 17.5919, and GHS 15.0409 against the Dollar, the Pound, and the Euro respectively. The Dollar added to its gains against most international trading pairs helped by rising expectations that the US Fed will delay interest rate cuts until later in the year.

On the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), the Cedi traded down by 1.76%, 2.17%, and 1.63%, having begun the week at trade values of GHS 14.6047, GHS 18.6310, and GHS 15.8534 from last week’s opening trade quotes of GHS 14.3519, GHS 18.2352, and GHS 15.5988 against the Dollar, the Pound, and the Euro respectively. The Pound strengthened against a basket of currencies on the back of evidence of sticky UK inflation and the surprise announcement of a July general election.

The Cedi was quoted at GHC 11.8859 on the first trading day of the year against the Dollar and is currently being sold at GHS 14.0120 indicating a YTD loss of 17.86% on the BoG inter-bank trading platform. It is also being quoted at GHS 14.6047 on the Open Forex Market (oanda.com) after opening the year at GHS 11.9945 indicating a YTD loss of 21.76%.