Cedi continues strong run against dollar; One dollar equals GH¢15.81

 The cedi continued its strong run last week, appreciating against the US dollar and the other major foreign currencies on the retail market.

This narrowed its year-to-date loss to 1.43% to the American greenback¸ an improvement over the 1.85% recorded during the same period last year.

The stability was underpinned by subdued market activity and increased foreign exchange interventions by the Bank of Ghana.

The month finished with an average exchange rate of GH¢15.81 to one US dollar.

The local currency appreciated by 1.11%, 0.78%, and 0.6% week-on-week against the US dollar, pound and euro respectively.

 It began the week selling at GH¢15.85 to one dollar.

Last week, the Bank of Ghana’s stepped up its foreign exchange support, offering a total of US$320 million to corporate demand. This helped curb speculative pressures.

Analysts however expect early buffer build-ups amid corporate demand, particularly from the energy and manufacturing sectors, to impact the local currency in the coming weeks.

They however believe decisive and consistent interventions may avert this impact.

We believe sustained support could lead to frequent nominal appreciations, all things being equal; however, any slowdown in intervention could trigger higher demand expectations, potentially straining the local currency”, Databank Research said.

The Bank of Ghana reported in its January 2025 Summary of Economic and Financial Advisory that the cedi lost 2.4% in valued to the US dollar in January 2025.

According to the Bank of Ghana, the local currency traded at a rate of GH¢15.06 to the American greenback on the interbank market.