The Bank of Ghana (BoG) is bolstering its reserves to curb the cedi’s depreciation against major foreign currencies as demand for forex is anticipated to rise with the upcoming festive season. The Central Bank’s move aims to reassure businesses and consumers by steering the local currency towards greater stability in response to current pressures.
At present, the cedi is trading at nearly GHS 17 to a dollar on the forex market, reflecting a year-to-date depreciation of 24.3%. However, Dr. Ernest Addison, Governor of the Bank of Ghana, emphasized that strengthening reserves is essential to mitigating fluctuations in the cedi’s value and safeguarding economic stability.
“Some are praying that the cedi will recover to GHS 10.00 to a dollar. These are the problems in our economy, the issues about the exchange rate and financial sector issues. But I think the good news is that we are making progress because the developments we are seeing are not different from other jurisdictions.
“So, we need to stay focused and implement the appropriate policies and build buffers to be able to support the progress we have made.” This strategy, he explains, will not only strengthen the local but also foster investor confidence and broadly support economic stability.
“We have 7 billion dollars in foreign exchange reserves. If I want to drive the dollar-cedi rate at GHS 10, I can do that tomorrow. But what about the day after tomorrow? So, we are balancing various factors, trying to build reserves and managing the exchange rate. So, all is not lost yet, there is some silver lining in the cloud, hopefully, we will see the appreciation of the currency”, Governor Addison added.
He was speaking at the launch of “The Concise Law of Banking”, authored by private legal practitioner Afua Appiah-Adu. The Concise Law of Banking is a practical and concise guide to banking law commissioned by the Institute for Law & Development (ILAD).
It is suitable for students, banking practitioners, lawyers, various professionals and others who wish to understand the principles of banking law. The book is comprehensive and covers topics that are fundamental to banking law.
The topics that are covered in this book include Introduction to Banking Law; Bank Regulation, Supervision and Licensing; The Banker-customer Relationship; Bank Accounts; Cheques; Recovery of Money Paid Mistakenly; Paying Bank & Collecting Bank; Electronic Payment Systems; Payment Cards; Offshore Banking; Credit Reporting; Borrowing and Lending in Banking; Documentary Credits and Money Laundering.
It is a highly useful manual on banking law.
By: Nii Larte Lartey
