Cedi is making steady recovery – Governor

The cedi has seen a steady recovery in its level of depreciation against the dollar over the last three months following measures to stabilize the currency, Mr. Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, Bank of Ghana Governor, said in Accra on Monday.

"We have seen a tempering in the level of depreciation of the cedi against the dollar in the last three months," Mr. Amissah-Arthur told Parliament Appointments Committee during his vetting for the position of Vice-President and expressed the hope that the trend would continue.

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) in May announced measures to stabilize the cedi and reinforce the monetary policy stance, including the re-introduction of short-term Bank of Ghana Bills in the following tenors - 30 days, 60 days and 270 days.

This is intended to support the monetary operations of BoG and provide additional avenues for cedi investments.

It also asked all banks to maintain the mandatory 9% reserve requirement on domestic and foreign deposit liabilities in Ghana cedis only.

In addition, all banks are required to provide 100% cedi cover for their “vostro” balances to be maintained at BoG in line with provision in the Operational Guidelines Pursuant to the Foreign Exchange Act, that precludes foreign investor participation in the short end of the money market.

Mr. Amissah-Arthur said the rate of depreciation of the cedi against the dollar had dropped from about 5% in May to less than 1% as at the end of July, attributing the halt in the decline to the success of the measures.

Overall, the cedi had depreciated 17% on the year, he said, adding that he expected the trend to continue.**