Weekly Currency News Report – Week 07 [February 16, 2025]

The Ghanaian Cedi struggled to post a recovery against the Dollar, extending its weekly losses against the greenback for the sixth consecutive time as forex demand pressures intensify. The local unit opened the week, nursing losses across the board against its three major international trading partner currencies on the Open Forex Market (oanda.com). Whilst on the Bank of Ghana’s (BoG) inter-bank trading platform, the Cedi was mixed as it fell yet again against the Dollar but regained momentum to trim some sessions of the previous weeks’ losses against the Pound and the Euro.

The Cedi’s performance comes ahead of the release of funds to pay coupons on the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) bonds, a move that analysts are forecasting could further fuel the Cedi’s woes, as offshore investors may wish to repatriate the funds elsewhere. This follows the sharp drop in rates on the domestic market, despite the sustained drop in yields, aligning with improvements in key macroeconomic variables. It is, however, expected that the strong gains being recorded by Ghana in its Gross International Reserves should strengthen the hands of the central bank to continually intervene in the market to shore up forex supply to meet the rising demand.

On the BoG inter-bank trading platform, the Cedi traded down by 0.08% against the Dollar, having been offered for GHS 11.0045 at the start of the week from last week’s opening trade value of GHS 10.9955. Against the Pound and the Euro, the Cedi traded up by 0.25% and 0.33%, having been exchanged for GHS 14.9991 and GHS 13.0439 at the start of the week from last week’s opening trade quotes of GHS 15.0363 and GHS 13.0876, respectively. The Pound suffered a hit against a number of its trading pairs, hurt by the release of data which showed a further softening of the UK labour market, with the jobless rate climbing to 5.2% in quarter 4, 2025, up from 5.1% in the previous period.

On the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), the Cedi depreciated by 0.16%, 0.14%, and 0.03% to trade at GHS 11.0120, GHS 15.0197, and GHS 13.0599 at the start of the week from last week’s opening trade quotes of GHS 10.9944, GHS 14.9985, and GHS 13.0564 against the Dollar, the Pound, and the Euro, respectively. The Dollar rose against a basket of currencies, taking support from stronger-than-expected nonfarm payrolls data for January and as the unemployment rate fell to 4.3%, signaling a resilient US economy.

The Cedi was quoted at GHC 10.5053 on the first trading day of the year against the Dollar and is currently trading at GHS 11.0045, indicating a Year-to-Date (YTD) depreciation of 4.75% on the BoG inter-bank trading platform. It is also currently quoted at GHS 11.0120 on the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), having opened the year at GHS 10.5253, indicating a YTD loss of 4.62%.