The Ghana cedi continued its recent gains against the US dollar and the euro today, December 19, 2022.
This is coming after recording its biggest performance against the American ‘greenback’ and other major foreign currencies last week.
Checks by Joy Business at some forex bureaus indicate that that the cedi is going for ¢9.20 to the dollar.
Also, the cedi went for ¢9.30 pesewas against the euro, but remained at ¢1.80 to the pound, same as Friday December 16, 2022.
The recent gains by the local currency has therefore narrowed its year-to-date loss to 24.9%, from the high of 54% to the US dollar recorded some three weeks ago.
Now, the cedi is no more the worst-performing currency among top-performing currencies in Africa. Rather, the Egyptian pound is the worst-performing currency among the top African currencies on the continent.
According to Goldman Sachs’ 2023 outlook, “markets are anxious for signs of a fundamental shift, and investors are increasingly fearful of missing out since corrections after a peak tend to be swift and steep”.
Many analysts have cautioned that the cedi’s recent extraordinary performance may not be fundamentally supported.
Rather, this is purely due to the staff-level agreement reached between the International Monetary Fund and the Government of Ghana.
In this regard, they want government to ensure that an IMF programme is concluded by the first quarter of 2023 to sustain the performance of the cedi.