Cedi starts week on strong note; $1 now ¢12.25

The Ghana cedi started this week on a strong note gaining some grounds against the US dollar in the retail or forex market.

The local currency gained about 20 pesewas in value against the US dollar yesterday.

This follows a 1.61 percentage points improvement against the American greenback last week, ending the week at a mid-rate of ¢12.45 pesewas to the dollar.

It occurred despite some analysts expressing missed developments on the forex market.

Generally, there was an improved investor confidence which helped ease demand for foreign exchange, some analysts told Joy Business.

This was lifted by the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta’s visit to China to discuss a debt restructuring, which has been described as progressive with hopes of China reaching an agreement in the near term.

The visit of US Vice President, Kamala Harris to Ghana appears to also have boosted investor confidence as the US is a key player in the International Monetary Fund, which could fast-track  Ghana’s support from the Fund.

Additionally, the US Federal Reserve increased its policy rate by 25bps but also announced the need to slow the policy hike cycle in subsequent meetings as inflation figures tame.

Last week, the Bank of Ghana sold only $5.5 million on the spot market, while providing no support to the Bulk Oil Distributing Companies.

The cedi clawed back 1.61% week-on-week against the US dollar to trade at a mid-rate of ¢12.45 on the retail market.

It also strengthen in value marginally against the pound and the euro, gaining 0.50% and 0.19%, respectively.

Cedi depreciates by 22.1% in March 2023 – BoG

The Bank of Ghana last week put the depreciation of the cedi to the dollar so far in the year at 22.1%.

In its latest Summary of Economic and Financial Data, the Central Bank pegged the cedi at ¢11.104 to one US dollar on the interbank market.

In February 2023, the local currency also lost 22.1% in value to the American greenback, but its depreciation in January 2023 was 20.6%. This was after the earlier estimate of 19.1% depreciation was revised.