Cedi appreciates 0.6% to dollar – BoG

Figures from the March 2021 Summary of Economic and Financial Data of the Bank of Ghana have indicated the Ghana Cedi has appreciated by a percentage of 0.6% to the US dollar at the beginning of the 2021 fiscal year.

According to the report, the Cedi has been performing well and strong against the dollar since last year. The cedi depreciated against the world by a record of 3.9%.

Reacting to that, Senior Economic Analyst at Databank, Courage Kingsley Martey, in an interview with Joy FM has stated that the cedi survived even though it was faced with a lot of challenges.

“This sets a favourable entry into 2021. The expectations are for the GHS [cedi] to remain well supported in Q1-2021 [quarter one 2021] by the improved regulatory oversight, enhanced FX [foreign exchange] forward allotments and continued improvements in risk appetite of non-resident investors," he said.

Currently, the figures from the Central Bank show that the cedi is trading at GH¢5.727 against the major trading currency the dollar.

The Euro is also appreciated by 3.5%. The British pound declined in value by 1.3%.

However, in its 2021 Economic Outlook Report, the cedi’s 2020 performance made it one of the best-performing currencies in Sub Saharan Africa.

“The Ghana cedi appears well supported for another year of relative stability but not without pressure points. We forecast full-year 2021 depreciation range of 3.02% – 6.18%”, the report said.

Meanwhile, a prediction from Databank Research is predicting a GH¢6.18 to the dollar end year rate in 2021.

This will be 3.02% depreciation and lower than the 3.9% depreciation recorded last year.