I’m extremely upset and anxious about the Cedi depreciation – Akufo-Addo

Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo has expressed concern and worry over the depreciation of the Cedi against the US Dollar.

According to him, he is as worried as any Ghanaian about the poor performance of the Cedi against the major foreign currencies.

Akufo-Addo opined that his government is making efforts to stop the ongoing depreciation of the Cedi against foreign currencies, especially US dollar.

“I’m aware of the anxiety there is in business circles and throughout the population about the recent depreciation of the Cedi. I’m extremely upset and anxious about it too. But I want to assure you that all efforts are being made to arrest the decline and restore the Cedi to stability in order to improve the competitiveness of Ghanaian industry, and I think very soon you will see some results,” President Akufo-Addo said.

Ghana’s currency, the Cedi, has been abysmal since the beginning of the year.

For some time now the foreign exchange rates especially for the US dollar provided by the Bank of Ghana has been significantly different from the rates one would get on the foreign exchange retail market.

Analysts however, say the widening gap between the rates on the two markets is quite normal within the first quarter of a year, however, they are attributing the eyebrow-raising depreciation of the Cedi against the US Dollar on the retail market, in this quarter to high corporate demand for US dollars, and US Dollar demands associated with crude oil purchases among others.

The US Dollar is currently going for GH¢6.43 on the interbank foreign exchange market as of February 18, after starting the year at about GH¢6 which represents a depreciation of about 7%, the greenback on the retail market is selling at about GH¢7 at some forex bureaus.

But the President noted last week that all will be done to stabilize the Ghana Cedi.

Meanwhile, Myjoyonline.com has reported that the local currency has crossed the ¢7 to one dollar mark on the retail market with less than two months into 2022.

Checks at some forex bureaus and commercial banks indicate that a dollar is being sold at a little above ¢7 cedis.

Whilst, some forex bureaus and banks are buying a dollar between ¢6.85-¢7, they are selling one dollar for ¢7-¢7.05

The Cedi’s predicament has been largely attributed to the uncertainty about Ghana’s fiscal outlook.