Cedi will stabilize in September - Wampah declares

sQuashie

August 4, 2015 1:43 PM

The Ghana Cedi over the past week has resorted to its usual fall against the major currencies, depreciating by some 6 per cent, after putting up a strong fight against the dollar in the greater part of July, 2015.

The Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Henry Kofi Wampah has assured players in the business community that the Ghanaian local currency, the Ghana Cedi will stabilize in September.

Addressing concerns over the currency's latest slide, the central bank governor expressed optimism at the possibility of stabilizing the currency in view of measures the central bank is implementing in the short to medium term to stem the slide.

Critics, however, were not convinced that the currency could continue the positive performance, as it was hinged on the central bank’s ingestion of $20 million on a daily basis.

However, addressing the issue with the media on Monday, Dr. Wampah lashed out at speculators predicting a negative outlook for the cedi as the propagators of fear and panic in the currency.

He set out to allay all such fears, stating, ‘There’s no economic basis for the negative predictions of speculators’. Instead he believes all moves being made by the central bank point to a positive outlook, which will come to fruition by September.

Meanwhile some players in the banking sector have expressed mixed opinions about the performance of the local currency. Chief Operations Manager of the Ghana International Bank, Mark Arthur disagrees with the central Bank governor.

'The macroeconomic indicators don’t lie. The speculations are based on the indicator. The central bank must do more.’’ Mr. Arthur said.

One optimistic player however, is the deputy managing director of Societe General Ghana, Francois Marshall. He believes the cedi will stabilize in the coming months. ‘’ It will rise again, but not as fast as before. The actions of the central banks are reassuring. Once the $1.8 billion Cocoa syndicated loan kicks in, as well the 1 billion Eurobond, it will stabilize.’’ Mr. Marshall Added.

Today, the Ghana Cedi depreciated against the Ghana Cedi by 26 pesewas, against the Euro by 20 pesewas and against the Dollar by 18 pesewas.

sQuashie