Some Ghanaians have expressed cautious relief as the local cedi currency continues to appreciate against major world trading currencies.
As of the end of May, the currency sold between 10.29 and 10.3 Ghanaian cedis against the U.S. dollar, compared with 15.3 cedis to the greenback at the beginning of 2025, according to the Bank of Ghana.
“There are many benefits in having a stronger currency: We change our currency into dollars to trade with China, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and other countries. But with this trend, we will need fewer cedis to do business,” Lord Appiah-Dankwa, head of a trader association in Accra, the Ghanaian capital, told Xinhua.
He said the turnaround of the value of the local currency would result in some savings for businesses and individuals since the prices of imported items would begin to fall.
Moreover, Appiah-Dankwa said, prices of petroleum products will also go down due to a stronger cedi.
People with old stocks would make some losses in the short term when new goods purchased under the lower exchange rates begin to arrive, he said.
“What we need going forward is stability and sustainability in the exchange rate,” Appiah-Dankwa said. “We cannot forecast now because of the instability.”
Stephen Deegbe, a student of the University of Media Art and Communications, lauded the government for reversing the depreciation of the local currency, bringing relief to Ghanaians.
“Many Ghanaians recall the past when the exchange rate reached about 17 cedis to a U.S. dollar, with things getting out of hand,” he said.
According to Deegbe, one concern many have expressed is about sustainability, which government officials have responded to with firm assurances.
Bank of Ghana Governor Johnson Asiama attributed the rallying cedi to a combination of factors, including a tight monetary policy stance, ongoing fiscal consolidation, record reserve accumulation, strict enforcement of foreign exchange market rules, and improved market sentiment.
He said earlier that Ghana’s foreign exchange reserves had reached 10.1 billion dollars, a relatively comfortable position, helping to ease the pressure in the forex market.
“In the year to May 21, 2025, the cedi had appreciated against all the major currencies: 24.1 percent against the U.S. dollar, 16.2 percent against the British pound, and 14.1 percent against the euro,” Asiama noted.
He said the stronger local currency had also contributed to a 2.6-percentage-point decline in inflation over the first four months of the year.
The next phase of the central bank’s reforms would be focusing on sustaining foreign exchange inflows and strengthening foreign exchange market regulatory oversight to sustain the current gains, Asiama said.
President John Dramani Mahama indicated that the recovery in the value of the cedi has culminated in the easing of Ghana’s debt burden.
Speaking at the annual meetings of the African Development Bank late last month in Abidjan, the capital of Cote d’Ivoire, Mahama said the value of the local currency was one of the factors behind the country’s growing debt.
“Fortunately, we have put in place some measures that are strengthening the cedi, and so we have reduced our debt by about 150 billion cedis over the past five months,” the president said.
“If the trajectory continues, the target of improving debt sustainability by reducing the total public debt-to-GDP ratio to below 55 percent by the end of this year, instead of 2028,” would be possible, he added.
Since taking office in January, the Mahama-led government has introduced measures, including spending cuts, tax rationalization, and stronger regulation of gold trade, to ensure control of public debt and maximize foreign exchange accumulation. Enditem
Source: Xinhua
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