Cedi classified among African currencies with worst spot returns

Bloomberg report has classified Ghana’s local currency – the cedi, among African currencies with the ‘worst Spot Returns’ despite recent strides made by the cedi against major currencies.

According to Bloomberg, although the cedi lost over 11 percent to the US dollar in the first quarter of 2023, it was not enough to lift it from the list of bottom performers.

However, the cedi ended the first half of 2023 with a better performance recorded than the same period last. On the World Currency Ranker, the cedi’s performance placed 17th, depreciating by 11.21 percent.

Meanwhile, some notable worst performers are the Naira, Egyptian pound And the Kwanza. Bloomberg disclosed that the Nigerian Naira Is the worst African currency so far this year. It has lost about 39% value to the US dollar. It is followed by the Angola Kwanza and the Egyptian pound with year-to-date losses of 38.8% and 20% respectively.

Despite short-term exchange rate volatility, the cedi is eventually expected to stabilize given Ghana’s programme with the International Monetary Fund.

Fitch Solutions has also predicted that the Ghana cedi will end 2023 at a rate of ¢12.40 to one US dollar, which is a significant improvement from the 38% depreciation recorded in 2021.

Performance

Currently, the Interbank forex rates from the Bank of Ghana shows that the Ghana Cedi is trading against the dollar at a buying price of GH¢10.9914 and a selling price of GH¢11.0024. At a Forex bureau in Accra, the dollar is being bought at a rate of GH¢ 11.45 and sold at a rate of GH¢ 11.90.

Against the Pound Sterling in the Interbank market, the cedi is trading at GH¢13.9536 per a pound and selling at GH¢13.9686 per a pound. At a forex bureau in Accra, the pound sterling is being bought at a rate of GH¢ 14.60 per a pound and sold at a rate of GH¢ 15.30 per a pound.

Moreover, the Euro is trading at a price of GH¢ 11.9979 per a Euro, while selling at the price of GH¢ 12.0098 per a Euro in the Interbank market. At a forex bureau in Accra, the euro is being bought at GH¢ 12.20 per one Euro and sold at a rate of GH¢ 12.80 per one Euro.

The South African Rand is trading at GH¢ 0.5860 per rand and selling at GH¢ 0.5864 per a rand in the Interbank market. At a forex bureau, the South African Rand is being bought at a rate of GH¢ 0.30 per rand and selling at a rate of GH¢0.90 per rand.

The Nigerian Naira is trading at a buying price of 68.1528 naira for one cedi and a selling price of 68.9003 Naira to one cedi in the Interbank market. At a forex bureau in Accra, Nigerian Naira is being bought at a rate of 13.00 Naira for every 1 Cedi and sold at a rate of 19.00 naira.

For the CFA, it is trading at a buying price of 54.6185 CFA and a selling price of 54.6727 CFA.

At a forex bureau in Accra, CFA is being bought at a rate of 17.00 CFA for every 1 Cedi and sold at a rate of 21.00 CFA for every 1 Cedi.

Meanwhile, the cedi is starting to gain some strength on the back of the IMF deal. Analysts are also predicting that the value of the cedi will further shore up as the country continues to receive the tranches of the US$3 billion US dollar IMF bailout.