The Institute of Certified Economists of Ghana, has ruled out any likely effect on the performance of the cedi against the dollar in the short to medium term following the election of a new President in the US.
Global markets including currency markets were rattled after Donald Trump was elected the 45th President of the USA.
The US dollar for example took a battering, plunging 2.6pc to 102.350 against the Japanese Yen. The dollar also lost 1.6pc against the Swiss franc. While, the euro rallied to its highest level in two-months, climbing 1.8pc to $1.1225.
The Mexican peso, which has become the gauge for sentiment on the election, also plunged by more than 13pc to an all-time low against the dollar, its biggest daily move in two decades. There are fears the performance of the cedi which has been stable against the dollar for months will change following the American election turnout.
The cedi on the interbank foreign exchange market for example has been hovering around 3 cedis 95 and 3 cedis 98 dollars, while at forex bureaus around 3 cedis 98 and 4 dollars for moths time now.
According to the BoG monetary policy report for September 2016, nominal bilateral exchange rates showed that cumulatively from January to August 2016, the cedi depreciated by 3.8 percent and 6.0 percent against the US dollar and the Euro respectively, but appreciated by 8.0 percent against the pound sterling.
These compare with cumulative depreciation by 18.4, 17.4 and 11.3 percent against the US dollar, the pound and the Euro respectively over the corresponding period of 2015. The cedi performance in the year to September 30, 2016 indicated cumulative depreciation by 4.4 percent to the US dollar.
This compares favourably with 14.8 percent depreciation in the same period of 2015. Speaking to Citi Business News, CEO of the Institute of Certified Economists of Ghana, Daniel Amartey Anim, said the cedi is only likely to experience a significant change with the outcome of the election and the Christmas festivities coming up.
‘I believe strongly, as I said the only thing that will put the pressure on the cedi is the general election that we are approaching and that of the festive season so there’s the need for the Bank of Ghana to strategize, in order to have many reserves within the economy’.
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