Cedi to Strengthen in 2011 As Oil Production For Export Begins

Ghana’s currency, the cedi, may strengthen next year as oil production begins at the offshore Jubilee field, increasing export earnings for the country.

The cedi will trade around 1.44 to the dollar in 2011, appreciating from today’s rate of 1.458 as of 11:50 a.m. in Accra, said Jacob Brobbey, a currency trader at Barclays Bank Ghana Ltd., in a phone interview today. The currency has been little changed against the greenback this year, strengthening 0.6 percent since January.

Ghana’s central bank will allow the currency to strengthen to 1.37 to the dollar next year in a bid to control inflation, Razia Khan, the London-based head of Africa research at Standard Chartered Plc said in a note to clients Nov. 30.