The cedi has been named the best performing currency against the US dollar – The Ghana cedi beat off competition from 140 other currencies – The cedi had appreciated by 3.4% against the dollar from the beginning of 2020. The Ghana cedi which cumulatively depreciated by about 13% to foreign currencies, especially the US dollar in 2019, has begun to appreciate. According to research by Bloomberg, the cedi is the best-performing currency against the US dollar out of 140 currencies the study tracked. The statistics and data by Bloomberg also indicated that local currency, cedi as at February 3, 2020, had appreciated by 3.4% against the dollar. The cedi’s recent strong performance has been attributed to measures put in place by the Bank of Ghana and the Finance Ministry. The central bank in January 2020 announced the beginning of forward fx auctions, which ensured banks and other dealers to make advance purchases of foreign currency to be supplied at an agreed rate later on. The BoG noted that regulating the supply of the foreign currency will help stabilize the cedi for some time. According to a Citi Business report, the central bank’s auction committee accepted only 50% of the total amount of bids submitted by the banks in the forex forward sales. the BoG accepted 40 million dollars, the amount is 38 million dollars less than the amount the banks bid for. Also, the fortunes of the Ghana cedi is expected to be better and stronger because the country will be issuing a US$3 billion Eurobond soon. The US$3 billion Eurobond will further cushion the cedi from volatilities. YEN.com.gh earlier reported that fuel prices are expected to go down marginally between 2 and 4%, sources at the National Petroleum Authority have revealed. The new prices are to take effect, effective Saturday, February 1, 2020. The development is a result of a significant reduction in the world price of Brent Crude.
BY KWESI KORSAH
Kwesi Korsah's blog 