Cedi gains on Monday per BoG rate, buys at 15.9670 to a Dollar and sells at 15.9830

The Cedi has gained marginally against the major trading currencies especially the Dollar, per the Bank of Ghana (BoG) rate as of Monday, November 18.

Per the rate from the central bank on Monday, the Cedi is buying at 15.9670 to a Dollar and selling at 15.9830.

Pound buys at 20. 1631 Cedis and sells at 20.1849 Cedis.  The Euro also buys at 16.8504 Cedis and sells at 16.8671 Cedis.

 

On Friday, November 15, the Cedi was buying at 16.0720 and selling at 16.0880.

The Ghana Cedi came under intense pressure against the major trading currencies. Recently, the Institute of Economic Affairs disclosed.the local currency lost about 74% of its value against the dollar over the past 3 years,

It depreciated by 30.0% in 2022 and 27.8% in 2023.  It has so far in 2024 lost almost 29% to the American greenback. According to the IEA, “this is a huge depreciation by all standards”.

The first is election uncertainties that makes the dollar holdings as a safe haven. The second is uncertainties about the future of the International Monetary Fund programme in the face of the uncertain outcome of the elections and the possible intentions of the new administration, which would increase demand for dollars.

The third relates to uncerataities about debt negotiations with non-Eurobond commercial creditors, which could delay further disbursements under the IMF programme and associated inflows and, thereby, reduce FX supply in the economy.

“Indeed, the Minister of Finance [ Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam] has announced that the IMF Board will carry out the third review of Ghana’s programme on December 2, 2024. This seems quite belated since staff completed their own review in early October [2024]”, the IEA added.

The fourth is a subdued cocoa crop coupled with possible availability of limited syndicated loan in the face of COCOBOD’s expressed intention to shift to domestic financing of the crop.

The Finance Minister Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, asserted earlier that the Cedi had witnessed a cumulative depreciation rate of 14.2 percent year-to-date compared to 27 percent recorded in the same period of 2023.

“But for recent pressures we are seeing on exchange rate movements, the exchange rate has been largely stabilised with the depreciation of the cedi against the US Dollar halving from 54.2% at the end of Nov 2022 to 27.8% at the end of Dec 2023. The Cedi’s stability has continued into 2024, with a cumulative depreciation of 14.2% as of 20th May 2024, compared to 20.7% recorded in the same period in 2023. So on that comparative basis we are safe to conclude that the cedi is still strong, very strong,” he emphasised.

“We expect the cedi’s stability to improve into the medium-term as we complete debt restructuring, make more progress on fiscal consolidation, and improve our reserves over the medium-term. “The recent pressures we are observing on the cedi is largely on the back of the strengthening of the US Dollar against major trading currencies, seasonal forex demand including elevated demand from corporate institutions, payment to contractors and to IPPs, high Cedi liquidity and speculation,” Dr. Amin Adam added.

The post Cedi gains on Monday per BoG rate, buys at 15.9670 to a Dollar and sells at 15.9830 first appeared on 3News.

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