Minister of Finance, Dr. Mahammed Amin Adam, has expressed confidence in Ghana’s local currency, the cedi, stating that it is strong and doing well in the year 2024, as compared to 2023.
According to him, this is because the depreciation of the cedi against the US Dollar was halved from 54.2% at the end of Nov 2022 to 27.8% at the end of Dec 2023 adding that the stabilization of the cedi continued into 2024.
Addressing a press conference on Friday, May 24, 2024, Dr. Amin Adam said comparatively, the cedi is doing better this year than last year.
“But for recent pressures we are seeing on exchange rate movements, the exchange rate has been largely stabilised with the depreciation of the cedi against the US Dollar, halving from 54.2% at the end of Nov 2022 to 27.8% at the end of Dec 2023.
“The cedi’s stability has continued into 2024 with a cumulative depreciation of 14.2 percent as of May 20, 2024 compared to 20.7 percent recorded in the same period in 2023. Therefore, people may see the cedi depreciating fast recently. If you compare the depreciation year to date, from January to date, the cedi has depreciated by about 14. 2 percent. Same time last year, it depreciated by 20.7 percent so on that comparative basis, we are safe to say that the cedi is still strong, he sated.
He added “We expect the stability to improve in the medium term as we complete debt restructuring, as we make progress on fiscal consolidation and as we improve on our reserves over the medium term.
Explaining the factors putting pressure on the local currency, he said “The recent pressures on the cedi that I have referred to are largely as a result of the strengthening of the US dollar against major trading currencies across the world including ours and therefore, we expect that as the US currency also moderates in its strength, the effect will be felt on our currency.”
