Ghana Cedi continues to depreciate

Accra, March 27, GNA - The Ghana Cedi on Thursday lost value again against major international currencies, pushing the Gold Coast Securities (GCS)-Cedi Index up by 0.21 points. The Index, the composite measure of the value of the Ghana cedi against the Dollar, Pound, CFA and the Euro, rose at 106.19 points from 105.98 points on Wednesday.

The cedi depreciated against the pound and the euro by 0.44 GH pesewas and GH¢1.98 respectively. It, however, appreciated slightly by 0.055 GH pesewas against CFA and maintained its stability with the dollar.

Change for the year to date stands at 2.25 per cent while change base year (July 03 2007) to date is 6.19 per cent.

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. The cedi gains value when the index goes down and it loses value when the index goes up.

It is inversely proportional. A quote of 105.50 means the cedi value has depreciated 5.50 per cent since the base period, while a quote of 85.3 means the cedi has gained 14.77 per cent since its base year. The following are the exchange rates for the four currencies on Thursday, March 27, 2008.

Currency Buying Selling Depreciation/Appreciation

(GH¢) (GH¢) (GHp)

Dollar 0.9641 0.9852 -

Pound 1.9349 1.9776 -0.44

Euro 1.5231 1.5562 -1.98

Equivalence of currency to one GH¢

CFA 421.52 430.66 +0.0055