The Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, has urged Ghanaians to not panic or put further pressure on the cedi as the currency continued its rapid slide against the US dollar in October.
Thursday's depreciation (as much as 9.5 per cent against the US dollar), the biggest in 22 years, took losses suffered by the Ghana cedi to nearly 52% this year, the worst performance among 148 currencies tracked by Bloomberg.
According to Mr. Ofori-Atta, it is quite perplexing to see the level of the cedi's depreciation. He said the current level of depreciation may have been occasioned by a rush for dollars to import Christmas goods.
Mr Ofori-Atta was hopeful that the slide would be halted when the government reaches an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for economic support this year.
"...It's quite perplexing to see where it's going. Of course, typically in October, people are importing for Christmas and maybe there's a rush for that (the dollar) but my expectation is that once we also conclude with the Fund (IMF), that will lead to the fund's disbursement early next year to do that," Mr. Ofori-Atta said in an interview with Asaase Radio.
"The support we are getting from countries like Germany and France, we are confident that we will get the resources needed, so we really would want people to know not to panic or be rushing in order to put pressure on the currency, I think it's unnecessary and we are in good shape".
Ghana is hoping to receive as much as $3 billion under an IMF extended credit facility program to bolster its finances and regain access to global capital markets.
He added that additional support from countries such as Germany and France would provide the country with the funds needed to halt the slide of the cedi.
Latest Stories
-
5 dead, over 14 injured in gory accident near Obuasi
11 mins -
Cleaner to stand trial over Cashier’s death at Twumasiwaa Hospital
30 mins -
Global financial institutions call for comprehensive treaty to end plastic pollution
41 mins -
Electoral processes, ethnoreligious cleavages threats to Ghana’s 2024 election – WANEP
41 mins -
Harnessing intuition, reasoning, and memory to navigate the AI age
1 hour -
Azumah Nelson Sports Complex: Gov’t advised to terminate project contract
1 hour -
Dumsor will be a thing of the past soon – Bawumia assures
1 hour -
Why do you always run to the media? – EC quizzes IMANI
2 hours -
Francis Doku charges government to market traditional festivals
2 hours -
Ghana records an average of 9,900 snakebites annually
2 hours -
Fella Makafui sets record straight on relationship with D-Black
2 hours -
CEGENSA celebrates mentors for nurturing UG’s upcoming female leaders in academia
2 hours -
Dr. Bawumia begins Eastern regional tour with religious leaders in Akropong
2 hours -
Akosombo Dam Spillage: Would victims have been ignored if they were in swing constituencies – Ablakwa fumes
2 hours -
Have capacity to influence policy – former MiDA boss to engineers
2 hours