In the first 17 days of the new year alone, Ghana’s currency depreciated by 12.7%, making it the second worst performer among the top 15 currencies in sub-Saharan Africa. While one US dollar bought 13.10 units of the cedi in the parallel market, according to the latest data from the Bank of Ghana, one green note buys around 10.36 units of the local currency.
Cedi’s short-lived resurgence
After ending 2022 as one of the world’s worst performing currencies, Ghana’s currency is already one of two of sub-Saharan Africa’s top 15 currencies to depreciate by double digits in the first 17 days of the new year, a report has said. The Egyptian pound, which depreciated 16.5% over the same period, is the only currency among the top 15 sub-Saharan African currencies that has depreciated faster than the cedi.
Although the 12.7% drop in the Ghanaian cedi so far this year is still less than all of 2022 (38.86%), the latest depreciation suggests that the currency’s revival that began in late 2022 has come to an end. dissipated.
As Bitcoin.com News reported in mid-December 2022, the cedi rose from around GHS14:$1 to less than 9:1 in just four days. The currency’s revival was fueled by reports suggesting that the Ghanaian government had secured a $3 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Ghana needs the loan to help stabilize its economy.
In addition to the IMF loan package, Ghana, one of Africa’s top gold producers, is hoping to ease pressure on the cedi through the recently launched gold-for-oil scheme.
Bank of Ghana exchange rates pic.twitter.com/AGI7GfW5M3
— Bank of Ghana (@thebankofghana) January 20, 2023
However, the fall of the cedi to around GHS13.10:$1 in the parallel currency market suggests that neither the IMF loan nor the barter scheme can stop the currency’s slide. Meanwhile, at the time of writing this report, the Bank of Ghana data It showed that one US dollar bought GHS10.36 on the official foreign exchange market.
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