Ghana’s cedi depreciation of 3.9% to the dollar last year is the lowest in the history of the Ghanaian economy, the 2021 Budget and Economic Policy has revealed.

According to Majority Leader, Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu who is currently presenting the budget in parliament, the Ghanaian local currency stood its firm grounds against the American currency last year.

The Ghana cedi’s 2020 performance made it one of the best performing currencies in Sub Saharan Africa.

The impressive performance also made it the best since 2017 when it depreciated by only 4.88%.

At the forex bureau, the rate of depreciation was even lower at 2.2%.

Analysts believed the cedi benefited from a myriad of factors including the Bank of Ghana’s Forex Forward Auction and the diversified exports.

“This sets a favourable entry into 2021. The expectations are for the GHS [cedi] to remain well supported in Q1-2021 [quarter one 2021] by the improved regulatory oversight, enhanced FX [foreign exchange] forward allotments and continued improvements in risk appetite of non-resident investors’, Courage Kingsley Martey, Senior Economic Analyst at Databank said.

Recent historical performance of the cedi to dollar

2019	-12.9%
2018	-8.4%
2017	-4.9%
2016	-9.6%
2015	-18.75%