The Ghanaian cedi projected to be stable within two weeks, here’s what the finance ministry is doing

The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta gave the assurance on Wednesday, March 13, 2019, in Accra whiles addressing the current state of the cedi against major foreign currencies to journalists.

Mr Ofori-Atta was emphatic that the cedi will begin to appreciate against the major currencies within the next two weeks.

“The reversal will occur and it is going to be pretty stable,” he stated.

$4.6 billion would be injected into the system before the second quarter of the year.

Also, the government was expecting about $900 million funding for the COCOBOD and an additional $750 million bridge financing intended to cover the government’s short-term expenses.

These, according to the minister will help stabilize the cedi’s performance against other foreign currencies.

“Today as we speak, we launched our Eurobond, which would officially be close to $3 billion, helping us regain the strength of the cedi,” he said.

Cedi not the cheapest currency

The minister disagreed with claims by some news portals that the cedi was the cheapest currency in Africa.

He emphasized that the economy was doing well despite the recent depreciation of the cedi. Inflation was currently in a single digit while growth stood at 6 per cent.

Mr Ofori-Atta pleaded that it was not healthy for Ghanaians to repeat the statement that the cedi was the cheapest on the continent. “The truth of the matter is to look at the fundamentals,” he said.

The budget deficit had gone down. The strengthening of the US dollar last year, according to him, also led to about 8 per cent depreciation of the national currency.

“However, within the next two weeks, the currency will be stable”, the minister assured.