Ken Ofori-Atta optimistic about cedi rebound

Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta says the free fall of the cedi especially against the American dollar is to be contained in the coming days with the coming on board of the US$750 million bridge agreement and US$3 billion Eurobond.

“I am very confident the reversal is going to occur. We have about US$300 million coming in from COCOBOD and another US$600 million also from COCOBOD in about a month or so. We have officially launched our Eurobond which will be US$3 billion and that should close within the next couple of weeks,” Mr. Ofori-Atta declared.

In a bid to halt the cedi’s steep fall against the dollar, the central bank has also intimated a willingness to inject US$800 million into the economy to shore up the ailing currency.

The cedi has fared badly against US dollar selling between GHc5.55 and GHc5.75. In 2018 at this time, the cedi sold at GHc4.42 depreciating by 8.4 per cent and in January 2017 sold at GHc4.27.

Although importers have expressed grave concern over the depreciation of the cedi against the US dollar and the Pound, the Finance Minister holds that how governments structurally balance imports and exports has been the big challenge.

On folks describing the cedi as a worthless currency, Hon. Ofori-Atta noted, “Inflation is at a single digit which is good, growth has been string (six per cent through the third quarter of last year), our budget deficit has gone down in a strong way and we are also getting surpluses in our current account.”

Meanwhile, its evident government faces a financing crunch brought about by the disinterest of non-resident investors to buy up its debt securities hastening the cedi’s depreciation.