The Central Bank is anticipating the cedi to end 2020 with an exchange rate of Ghs 5.83 pesewas to the dollar.
The anticipation by the Bank of Ghana (BoG), is seen in the bank’s forex auction results which indicates the BoG is not willing to sell a dollar for more than Ghs 5.83 pesewas for the remaining 15 days of the year.
This is because, it is believed the Central Bank does not see the cedi depreciating against the dollar in the last 2 weeks of the year as the cedi due to the Christmas festivities, usually comes under pressure in the last month of the year causing it to lose grounds to the greenback.
Currently, the cedi goes for Ghs 5.83 pesewas to a dollar.
Although the Central Bank has not formally averred the cedi will end the year at Ghs 5.83 pesewas to the dollar, one per it’s forex auction results can deduce and project that to be the stance of the Central Bank.
The cedi has recorded one of its best performance against the dollar this year with its year-to-date (YTD) depreciation being some 3 per cent.
The low depreciation of the cedi has resulted in some positives for the Ghanaian economy as evidenced by the continuos decline in inflation and stable fuel prices.
Governor of the BoG, Dr Ernest Addison, at the last Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) press briefing, noted his outfit was building the bank’s reserves to $10 billion to contain the pressures on the local currency in the first quarter of 2021 as well as achieve a stable cedi depreciation next year.
Some however, have questioned the BoG’s ability to maintain a low depreciation rate come next year when economies around the world start opening up and imports begin to pickup strongly.
