Cedi performing better now than in 2012 and 2016 – Finance Minister

According to him, despite its current depreciation, the cedi has still performed better in the last two years than it did in 2012 and it 2016.

Mr. Ofori-Atta made the statement while addressing Parliament on Thursday, March 28.

“It is also noteworthy that while this is a challenge, the cedi has however performed better over the past two years than when compared specifically to 2012 to 2016,” he said.

“Indeed, the cedi has appreciated by 5.12 per cent in March 2019 alone as against depreciation of 2.7 per cent in the same period last year.”

Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta Pulse Ghana

The local currency begun the year on a rather bad note, depreciating from GHc 4.9 to over GHc 5.5 per US dollar.

This led to criticisms from the business community, who called on the government to take steps to salvage the situation.

The cedi, however, experienced a marginal appreciation last week, selling at GH¢5.3 to the dollar on Tuesday.

The local currency again went up marginally and was selling at GHC5.049 as of March 24, 2019.

The Finance Minister rejected claims that the depreciation of the currency was as a result of weak economic fundamentals.

Mr. Ofori-Atta said government has ensured there is a sustained GDP growth and economic transformation which would enable the cedi continue to be stable over the medium term.

He added that investor confidence in the country is very high, pointing to the high participation of foreign investors during Ghana’s recent issue of three billion dollars Eurobond as evidence.