Ghana: Cedi to witness mixed performance this week

Given the looming sovereign debt treatments, the cedi is expected to see a mixed performance this week as investors continue to digest the 2023 budget.

According to Databank Research, Ghana’s foreign exchange reserve will likely remain stable to anchor the value of the cedi if the government’s planned gold-for-oil barter deal is effectively implemented.

The summary of the Economic and Financial data published by the Bank of Ghana revealed a stable gross international reserve at $6.67 billion at the end of October 2022, supported by 7.24% month-on-month improvement in the trade balance.

The last week of November 2022, the cedi was relatively stable on the interbank market as investors digested the 2023 budget and the government’s plans to buy oil with gold instead of the US dollar. It closed the week at an indicative rate of ¢13.11/US$ on the interbank market while losing 0.67% against the American ‘greenback’ to close around ¢14.85 to one US dollar on the retail market.

The cedi posted a week-on-week depreciation of 3% vs pound and 0.99% against the euro in the retail market.

BoG pegs cedi depreciation to dollar at 54%

The Bank of Ghana pegged the rate of depreciation of the cedi to the dollar at 54.2% in almost 11 months of 2022.

However, the Central Bank in its November 2022 Summary of Economic and Financial data quoted the cedi to dollar at ¢13.10 to one US dollar.