Currency News [January 10, 2023]

The Ghana Cedi began the week nursing losses across the board 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). The Cedi after a recent rally, as the market welcomed the government’s domestic debt restructuring drive, has failed to sustain its gains against some of its trading pairs.

The Cedi underwent a difficult year last year losing over 50% of its value before posting a strong comeback in December to recover some of its losses. It ended 2022 with a year-to-date (YTD) performance of -42.79% on the BoG inter-bank trading platform against the US Dollar. The Cedi is expected to be pressured going into the year as the world economy continues to battle high-interest rates coupled with rising inflation numbers and fears of the global economy plunging into a recession.

On the BoG inter-bank trading platform, the Cedi traded down by 4.93%, 6.03%, and 6.46% to begin the week trading at GHS 9.0142, GHS 10.9487, and GHS 9.6685 from last week’s trading quotes of GHS 8.5903, GHS 10.3264, and GHS 9.0821 against the Dollar, the Pound, and the Euro respectively. The Dollar edged higher against the Cedi despite coming under pressure against other trading pairs over concerns that recent disappointing economic data would prompt the US Fed to slow the pace of interest rate hikes in 2023 and beyond.

On the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), the Cedi went down by 2.02%, 2.82%, and 2.24% from GHS 10.0825, GHS 12.1653, and GHS 10.7697 at last week’s open to trade at GHS 10.2862, GHS 12.5087, and GHS 11.0108 at this week’s open against the Dollar, the Pound, and the Euro respectively. The Euro and the Pound gained against the Cedi as risk appetite begin to improve following China’s reopening of its borders.

The Cedi was quoted at GHC 8.5903 on the first trading day of the year against the Dollar and is currently being sold at GHS 9.0142 indicating a YTD loss of 4.93% on the BoG inter-bank trading platform. It is also presently being quoted at GHS 10.2862 on the Open Forex Market (oanda.com) after opening the year at GHS 10.0825 indicating a YTD loss of 2.02%.