The Chief Executive Officer of the Swift Petrotrade Group, Prince Ellis Antsroe, has indicated that the cedi could trade at GH₵8 to a dollar if the United States of America lifts its sanctions on Iran.

He explained that a sanction relief could see global crude oil prices likely crashing further to as low as $40 or even lower per barrel.

Speaking to Myjoyonline.com, he said that this anticipated development will boost the confidence of commodity investors in safe-haven assets such as gold, which will increase.

“This could send the gold prices to the $3,500 per ounce range or even better. In other words, 1 kg of gold could be sold at around $123,500, as 1kg is made up of about 35.274 ounces,” he explained. 

He further said that strong global demand for gold at extremely high prices will see an enormous inflow of US dollars into Ghana, as it is currently exporting substantial quantities of the commodity.

“If this happens, while Ghana’s imports remain at similar levels, the cedi could continue its rally against the dollar to regions of GH₵8 to a dollar and remain fairly stable so long as the prices of the commodities under consideration remain in similar ranges,” he said. 

He further added that “while Ghanaians may have their fingers crossed to see the US lift the sanctions on Iran to trigger low oil prices and its subsequent higher gold prices, US intelligence suggests that Israel is preparing to strike Iranian nuclear facilities, according to CNN. It is not clear yet whether the Israeli leaders have made a final decision.”

However, Mr. Antsroe expressed optimism that any attack by Israel on Iran would hinder the ongoing negotiations between the US and the Middle East.

He said this would increase the volatility that is already prevalent in the region that supplies one-third of the global oil and, by extension, lead to higher oil prices over a period.

“While the oil prices go up, there may be expectations that the gold prices may begin to decline; however, due to general uncertainties as a result of the geopolitical factors, the gold prices may not fall as much as the experts could predict.”

“We may see a bit of undulating curves in the performance of gold prices, but that may not be strong enough to break the Ghanaian Cedi. A colossal look at the scenarios can perfectly make me ask myself if the success of Ghana is dependent on the happenings in the rest of the world,” he noted.