The Ghanaian currency has continued to strengthen the trend against the US dollar and all the other major foreign currencies. The cedi in the last two weeks has been on a path of resurgence against all the major trading currencies. The local currency is currently trading at ¢8 to a dollar on the interbank market. It is, however, higher on the forex or retail market with the average rate being ¢10.50.
The pound and euro is also selling at ¢9.80 and ¢8.50 respectively to the cedi. This is per official interbank exchange rates published by the central bank, Bank of Ghana on Friday, December 16.
The cedi’s good run in recent weeks reflects more of a US dollar weakening with some improved outlook around the cedi-US dollar supply balance heading into next year.
It is unclear why the sudden improvement of the local currency, but some market analysts are attributing it to a weakening of the US dollar against global currencies and a successful launch of a debt restructuring programme and the Staff-Level Agreement the government has reached with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Following this, the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) has appealed to its members to reduce the prices of their goods. According to the association, it is essential for traders to transfer the recent gains in the local currency through a reduction in the prices of their goods during the yuletide.
Source: Ernest Arhinful
