Currency News [January 13, 2025]

The Cedi opened the week mixed against its three major trading partner currencies on both the Bank of Ghana (BoG) inter-bank trading platform and the Open Forex Market (oanda.com) where the local currency fell against the Dollar but maintained its strong footing against the Pound and the Euro. The Dollar has remained comparatively stronger over the past week, trampling most of its trading pairs buoyed by impressive US jobs data, thus adding momentum to the upward march of global bond yields.

The Cedi’s performance at the week’s start comes amidst an assurance by the finance minister-designate that the new government remains committed to fully implementing the ongoing Post-COVID Programme for Economic Growth (PC-PEG) with the International Monetary Fund. This assurance brings some bit of calm among investors thus helping to allay fears of a deterioration of the economic recovery path. During his vetting process, the minister-designate also mentioned that his ministry and the BoG would coordinate effectively to help stabilize the local unit and ensure its sustainability.

On the BoG inter-bank trading platform, the Cedi lost by 0.68% against the Dollar, opening the week with a trade value of GHS 14.8074 from last week’s opening trade quote of GHS 14.7074. Against the Pound and the Euro, the Cedi traded up by 2.03% and 0.94% to open the week trading at GHS 18.0176 and GHS 15.1244 from last week’s opening trade quotes of GHS 18.3915 and GHS 15.2678 respectively. The Pound has come under pressure against most of its peers driven by investor concerns about the UK’s fiscal sustainability as gilt yields rose for a sixth straight day.

On the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), the Cedi traded down by 0.75% against the Dollar, being offered at GHS 14.8383 at this week’s start from last week’s opening trade quote of GHS 14.7274. However, against the Pound and the Euro, the Cedi soared by 1.87% and 0.61% to trade at GHS 18.0460 and GHS 15.1648 at the week’s opening from last week’s opening trade values of GHS 18.3890 and GHS 15.2586 respectively. The Euro dipped against some of its peers on the back of expectations that the European Central Bank is widely expected to cut the bloc’s interest rate by 100 basis points in 2025 as inflation gradually inches to the bank’s 2% target.

The Cedi was quoted at GHC 14.7074 on the first trading day of the year against the Dollar and is currently being sold at GHS 14.8074 indicating a Year-to-Date (YTD) depreciation of 0.68% on the BoG inter-bank trading platform. It is also being quoted at GHS 14.8383 on the Open Forex Market (oanda.com) after opening the year at GHS 14.7134 indicating a YTD loss of 0.85%.