The Ministry of Finance has noted recent wins by the national currency, the Ghana cedi, according to a Bloomberg report of December 9.

The official handle of the Ministry shared a photo from the Bloomberg article showing the gains made by the cedi.

The graphic showed that the Ghana cedi had posted the biggest weekly advance against the US dollar, with about 10%.

The cedi is ahead of other currencies like the Vietnam dong, Chile peso, Costa Rica colon and China yuan on the photo captioned: “World Beater: Amid a debt crisis, Ghana’s cedi rallies.”

The depreciation of the cedi against the dollar, galloping inflation and rise in cost of living are some of the major pointers of an economy under distress.

The dollar rose to as high as US$1 to over 15 cedis months back. The local currency has rallied to retake some grounds. The dollar at the close of this week was going for a little above 12 cedis.

Some analysts have attributed the gains to the approval of the 2023 budget by Parliament and the announcement of a domestic debt exchange programme by Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.

Ghana is currently facing economic headwinds with a domestic debt programme facing opposition from stakeholders - largely from institutional bondholders.

Government is hoping to close a deal on debt restructuring at home in order to be able to access an International Monetary Fund (IMF) facility to support the failing economy.

Minister of Finance Ken Ofori-Atta on December 6 announced that government was restructuring bonds held by institutional investors, putting them into four groups stretching 15 years. With interest also spread in four tranches in four years.

The Domestic Debt Exchange programme as it is called has faced some stiff opposition from major professional groups and workers union in the country.

Excerpts of the Bloomberg report

Ghana’s currency took the title of the world’s best performer against the dollar this week amid optimism the debt-distressed country is moving closer to unlocking an International Monetary Fund bailout.

The cedi has rallied 10% in the past five days, the biggest advance among about 150 currencies tracked by Bloomberg. That’s a turnaround for an exchange rate that had lost half of its value this year and occupied the bottom slot in the charts.

Ghana’s cedi posted world’s biggest gain against the US Dollar last week. Source: Bloomberg. #StrongCedi #RobustRecoveryAhead pic.twitter.com/RsxTI6jccS

— Ministry of Finance, Ghana (@MoF_Ghana) December 10, 2022