The Ghana cedi lost 9.03% in value to the US dollar last week (October 10-October 14, 2022).

This came after the investment market reacted to the September 2022 inflation (37.2%).

The cedi also lost 5.15% and 6.87% in value to the pound and the euro respectively.

The story was the same in the forex bureau market, where the cedi was quoted at an indicative bid/ask rate of ¢11.4000/¢12.4000 per US dollar. The year-to-date depreciation rate was therefore -45.46%.

Analysts say the cedi came under sustained selling pressure last week on heightened uncertainty as the September 2022 inflation surprisingly came in at 37.20%.

They expect the selling pressures to persist on heightened uncertainty around the cedi.

In the 14th Forex Forward auction for the Bulk Oil Distribution Companies, the Bank of Ghana allocated $60 million at a 30-day forward rate of ¢10.7907 to a dollar, indicating intense demand pressures.

1 dollar now goes for ¢12.45

The depreciation pressures on the Ghana cedi continued unabated as the local currency sold at ¢12.45 to the US dollar at the forex bureaus or the retail market.

This translated into 2.8% depreciation of the local currency to the world’s most powerful currency, just in a single day.

Cedi slumps to world’s worst performer versus dollar

The depreciation pressures on the cedi caused a slump in the local currency, ranking it as the world’s worst-performing currency to the dollar, according to Bloomberg.

The currency of the world’s second-biggest cocoa producer depreciated 2% on Monday to 11.2625 per dollar (interbank), taking its losses this year to 45.1%, the most among 148 currencies tracked by Bloomberg.