Coronavirus: Ghana cedi still appreciating against foreign currencies despite the menace

As of Wednesday, March 18, 2020, the local currency has appreciated by 3.47% to the dollar, 13.38% to the British pound and 5.81% to the euro.

At the forex bureau, the cedi is going for GH¢5.69 to one US dollar and GH¢6.90 to one British Pound. For the euro, it is selling at GH¢6.17.

The report, however, said it is losing ground albeit slowly to the US dollar in particularly in the last couple of days but may end the first quarter of this month with an appreciation of about 3%.

It lost 0.20% to trade at GH¢5.34 to one American ‘greenback’, but gained 1.80% and 1.11% respectively to sell at GH¢6.45 to one British pound and GH¢5.87 to the euro.

Some analysts and economists have partially attributed the strength of the cedi to the global outbreak of the coronavirus. This is because most global economies have slowed down production whilst oil prices have gone very low.

But recent sell-off of Ghana cedi assets by investors due to the collapse in oil price and COVID-19 fears have culminated in the cedi losing some gains.

The cedi ended the month of February 2020 with an appreciation of about 5.75% to the US dollar on the interbank market.

The performance is supported by ongoing Bank of Ghana (BoG) interventions on the spot and forward markets coupled with weak importers demand for foreign exchange on the market. The foreign exchange supply-side was also supported by foreign portfolio investment flows to high-yield cedi securities.