Bloomberg has tagged the Ghana Cedi as the best performing currency in the world.
According to a report from Bloomberg the rise in currency value is due to the optimism of the $3 billion bailout Ghana has requested from the International Monetary Funds (IMF).
The report said “The cedi has rallied 10% in the past five days, the biggest advance among about 150 currencies tracked by Bloomberg. That’s a turnaround for an exchange rate that had lost half of its value this year and occupied the bottom slot in the charts.”
“The currency was the cheapest in Africa, more than 30% undervalued versus its 25-year history last week, so some rebound after the huge fall recently isn’t that surprising,” said Charles Robertson, the global chief economist at Renaissance Capital Ltd. in London. Also we have the IMF in town, which should pave the way for dollar support,” it added.
The Cedi’s depreciation rate against the USD put Ghana’s economy in a forlorn position with the country’s long-term bonds suffering at least 7 downgrades from three international rating agencies in less than 11 months this year.
The currency which has lost over 50% of its value in the year gained 10% against the US Dollar. At a point this year (2022) the cedi to dollar exchange rate was as high as $1 to more than GHC15. However, the cedi currently trades at GHC12.50 to a dollar.
Some months back the Cedi was described as the worst performing currency in the world. This caused some outrage among citizens. Many called for the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta to resign. Parliamentarians on both sides of the house demanded his dismissal as well.
However, a bid to censure Ofori-Atta failed after the governing party members walked out of parliament, denying the opposition of the two-thirds majority it required to pass the motion.
Members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) have accused Ofori-Atta of illegally using the government’s consolidated fund to finance a national cathedral project.
They also accuse him of intentionally misreporting budget deficits to parliament, and of keeping conflicting ties with commercial banks that made him to benefit from the country’s heavy debt burden.
During censorship hearings in November, Ofori-Atta said he was “truly sorry” for the country’s economic hardship. He, however, denied any wrongdoing.
