Cedi falls again to major currencies

Accra, Oct. 15, GNA - Ghana cedi continued to depreciate on Wednesday to the dollar, euro and CFA but gain slightly to the pound pushing up again the GCS-Cedi Index by 0.12 points. The index, which measures the average performance of the cedi against the major trading currencies, therefore, went up at 115.74 points on Wednesday from 115.62 points on Tuesday. The year-to-date shows a deprecation of the cedi by 17.91 per cent, 9.51 per cent and 3.76 per cent to the Dollar, the Euro and the Pound respectively, but indicates 8.68 per cent appreciation against the CFA.

The cedi gains value when the index goes down and it loses value when the index goes up. On a whole, the cedi depreciated by 0.20 GH cedis to the dollar, 0.41 GH pesewas to the Euro and 0.01 GH pesewas to the CFA. It, however, appreciated by 0.03 GH pesewas to the Pound.

Change for the year to date and change base year (July 03 2007) to date now stands at 11.44 per cent and 15.74 per cent respectively. The Index is calculated as a geometric weighted average of changes in the four currency rates against the cedi at the Inter-bank market, relative to a base of 100 set on 03 July 2007, when the Bank of Ghana redenominated the national currency at a base value of 100. It is inversely proportional. A quote of 105.50 means the cedi value has depreciated by 5.50 per cent since the base period, while a quote of 85.3 means the cedi has gained by 14.77 per cent since its base year. The following are the exchange rates for the four currencies on Wednesday, October 15, 2008.

Currency Buying Selling Depreciation (-)/Appreciation (+) (GH¢) (GH¢) (Gp)

Dollar 1.1234 1.1574 - 0.20 Pound 1.9596 2.0193 - 0.41 Euro 1.5291 1.5751 + 0.03

Equivalence of currency to one GH¢ CFA 416.46 428.97 - 0.01