Businesses and individuals that currently need dollars for their operations are taking a major hit as the cedi continues to tumble against major trading currencies.
The Ghana Cedi at the various forex bureaux today, Wednesday, January 29, 2025, opened trading at 15.25/15.40 per dollar squeezing importers, traders, and individuals.
These persons went to sleep yesterday with the hope that the cedi will strengthen today due to the intervention by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) yesterday. However, the cedi failed to respond to the dollar injection aimed at easing the pressure on the local currency.
Market watchers say the situation is purely a demand and supply issue as the high demand for dollars by businesses and individual exceed the supply.
The high demand, these analysts explain is the cause of the little to no positive impact of the Central Bank’s intervention.
Kojo Letsa, a forex trader said without any major intervention or economic boost, the cedi in the coming days is anticipated to further weaken making life more difficult for businesses.
“Despite the regulator’s valiant efforts to stabilize the local currency through yesterday’s liquidity injection, the pair has stubbornly refused to yield, inching higher,” he told SKB Journal.
He feared that “With no positive catalysts on the horizon to bolster the Cedi’s fortunes, I anticipate the pair to maintain its bullish trajectory in the near term, casting a long shadow over the currency’s prospects.”
The bullish trajectory is not only a cause of concern for businesses but also for all Ghanaians.
The falling cedi means higher prices for goods and services. Traders who import goods will need more cedis to buy the same amount of stock, leading to price hikes on the market. Fuel prices, transport fares, and the cost of essential commodities like food and medicine are all expected to rise.
In the short term, analysts say unless the regulator deepens its intervention, the situation will continue to worsen.
In the long term, economists have consistently suggested that Ghana secures more foreign exchange inflows through increased exports, reduces imports, and tackles food production.
