Ghana Cedi Falls to 18-Year Low

...as Investors Seek Dollars

Ghana’s cedi weakened to the lowest in almost 18 years against the dollar as traders bought the U.S. currency to import goods and foreign investors sought to sell their local investments.

The currency of the world’s second-biggest cocoa producer depreciated 0.8 percent to 1.674 per dollar as of 2:10 p.m. in Accra, the capital, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s the lowest since at least May 1994, when Bloomberg began compiling the data.

“Demand for dollars today came mostly from offshore investors and buyers from the commerce industry,” Chris Nettey, a currency trader at the local unit of Standard Bank Group Ltd., said in a telephone interview. “The offshore investors sold their investments in bonds and other instruments on the secondary market, citing the possibility of a weaker cedi in an election year.”

Ghana will hold presidential and parliamentary elections in December.