The appreciation of the cedi versus all major trade currencies, according to President of Ghana Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, is the outcome of intentional policy changes made by the government in recent months.
The strengthening of the cedi, according to President Akufo-Addo, “has not happened by happenstance, but through the adoption of intentional policies by the Government, in partnership with the Bank of Ghana.”
He listed the following measures:
“Cedi liquidity tightening measures, resulting in the offloading of forex, as a store of value, by speculators.
The improvement of forex flows from remittances and the mining sector; and the reaching of a staff level agreement with the IMF for a US$3 billion package.”
The President announced this on Sunday, December 18, 2022, during a speech he gave at the Ga Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana’s centennial commemoration, which took place in Black Star Square in Accra.
In his address to the congregation, Rev. Prof. Joseph Obiri Yeboah Mante, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, noted that things are starting to improve thanks to the government’s effective policies, tenacity, and hard work.
While admitting that the nation was far from “out of the woods,” he gave the assurance that the government will keep working hard to maintain and retain the advances earned.
Meanwhile, the president also iterated that: “Indeed, in the weeks ahead, the Bank of Ghana will continue with the purchases of forex from the mining and oil sectors to enhance liquidity supply to the market.
Continue with the single, unified forex forward auction and some modest targeted bilateral support to critical imports; and the implementation of the gold for oil swap transaction, which will significantly remove forex pressures on the cedi.”
In light of this, he joined GUTA, GRTCC, and others in urging producers, dealers, and transport companies to lower their prices now that the cedi is regaining a lot of its strength.
Their prices were raised during the height of the recent depreciation of the cedi.
Conclusion
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