Currency News [April 4, 2022]

As the measures outlined by the government to resuscitate the local economy begins to kick in, the Cedi showed signs of responsiveness as it recorded its first week-on-week gain in eleven weeks against the US Dollar this week whilst its rate of decline against the Pound and the Euro slowed on the Bank of Ghana (BoG) inter-bank trading platform. Off the inter-bank trading platform, the Cedi came in strong against the Dollar, the Pound, and the Euro as it recovered part of previous weeks’ losses against the three.

The Cedi’s performance this week comes as investor confidence begins to pick up following the passage of the electronic-levy bill which is to afford the government the needed revenue to bridge its widened fiscal gap whilst increasing its capability to repay its maturing debt obligations. The Cedi was further supported by the BoG’s maiden auction of forex forward rates to Bulk Oil Distributing Companies where the BoG sold USD 104.86 million with a 30-day tenor.

On the BoG inter-bank trading platform, the Cedi was up by 0.01% after it traded at GHS 7.1156 on the first day of the week against the Dollar from last week’s opening trade value of GHS 7.1162. The Cedi’s gain was capped following the release of robust US jobs data which affirmed market expectations that the Fed will increase the pace of interest rate hikes. Against the Pound and the Euro, the Cedi lost by 0.15% and 0.06% to open the week trading at GHS 9.3328 and GHS 7.8256 from last week’s opening trade values of GHS 9.3186 and GHS 7.8209 respectively.

On the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), the Cedi surged by 0.54%, 0.59%, and 0.22% to open the week trading at GHS 7.5822, GHS 9.9445, and GHS 8.3473 from last week’s opening quotes of GHS 7.6233, GHS 10.0037, and GHS 8.3653 against the Dollar, the Pound, and the Euro respectively. The Euro remained under pressure against a basket of currencies including the Cedi following concerns that the war in Ukraine will continue to impact negatively on the bloc’s economic growth.

The Cedi was quoted at GHC 6.0091 on the first trading day of the year against the Dollar and is currently being sold at GHS 7.1156 indicating a year-to-date (YTD) loss of 18.41% on the BoG inter-bank trading platform. It is also presently being quoted at GHS 7.5822 on the Open Forex Market (oanda.com) after opening the year at GHS 6.2112 indicating a YTD loss of 22.07%.