Cedi falls to major trading currencies

Accra, Feb. 3, GNA - The local currency on Tuesday plummeted as a result of depreciation against three of the four major international trading currencies pushing up the Gold Coast Securities (GCS)-Cedi Index by 0.33 points.

The cedi dipped to the dollar, the euro and the CFA by 0.14GHp 1.73GHp and 0.04GHp respectively, but appreciated marginally against the UK pound by 1.16GHp. Meanwhile market analysts have predicted that the pound would lose its strength as government increases borrowing to kick start growth in the economy this year.

The Index, which measures the average performance of the cedi against these major trading currencies, therefore, went up at 121.61 points from 121.28 points on Monday. The cedi gains value when the index goes down and it loses value when the index goes up. The year-to-date depreciation is 4.80 percent to the dollar and 2.13 percent to the Pound. But the year-to-date appreciation stands at 3.14 percent to the Euro and 3.24 percent to the CFA. The Index change for the year to date and change base year (July 03 2007) to date now stands at 2.65 per cent and 21.61 per cent respectively.

The Index is calculated as a geometric weighted average of changes in the four currency rates against the cedi at the Inter-bank market, relative to a base of 100 set on 03 July 2007, when the Bank of Ghana redenominated the national currency at a base value of 100. It is inversely proportional. A quote of 105.50 means the cedi value has depreciated by 5.50 per cent since the base period, while a quote of 85.3 means the cedi has gained by 14.77 per cent since its base year. The following are the exchange rates for the four currencies on Tuesday, February 3, 2009.

Currency Buying Selling Depreciation (-)/Appreciation (+) (GH¢) (GH¢) (Gp)

Dollar 1.2521 1.2925 - 0.14

Pound 1.7781 1.8359 + 1.16

Euro 1.6080 1.6597 - 1.73

Equivalence of currency to one GH¢

CFA 395.23 407.94 - 0.04