Bank of Ghana announces insertion of $800m into reserves in March for cedi’s stabilization

The Bank of Ghana has made an announcement that it will pump out some USD 800 million to add in the country’s reserves in March to stabilise the cedi against major international currencies, especially the dollar. According to the market analysts, the cedi has depreciated and is currently trading at around GH¢5.45.

Stephen Opata, the Head of Financial Markets at the central bank said to the Daily Graphic that the accumulation of more dollars would help increase the net international reserve (NIR) to around USD 4 billion, enough to provide confidence in the system and help stabilise the free fall of the local currency. The data from the central bank reveals that cedi has lost some 3.6 percent of its value to the US dollar since January 2019 as the international investor community sold some of their investments in local securities and moved their funds overseas, partly causing the cedi to slide. He said one of the strategies to be adopted ‘is rebuilding reserves to face more systemic shocks that may come’.

“I am very optimistic that it will not be long before we see stability and some recovery in the cedi,” Stephen Opata further said. “In this first quarter, the movement in the cedi is not caused by external factors because the external sector has been quiet,” he further added.

On the other hand, President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo has assured that his government is giving all its endeavours to arrest the decline of the cedi.

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