Ghana currency falls 17.5% during 2012 – BoG

Despite restored stability amidst foreign exchange market volatility, Ghana’s currency, the cedi, fell cumulatively 17.5% during the year 2012, according to the central bank.

This was against the 5% depreciation in 2011.

The foreign exchange market was volatile in the first half-year of 2012, forcing the Bank of Ghana to initiate some policy measures to ease the situation. The cedi recorded a depreciation of 17.2% between January and June 2012, the BoG said.

The measures seem to have worked as the strength of the cedi was stable during 2012 second-half. The currency “remained broadly stable during the second-half, depreciating by only 0.3%,” the BoG said.

In real effective terms, both trade and foreign exchange weighted exchange rate developments reflected cumulative depreciation rates of 14.3% and 18.4% respectively, it adds.

By Ekow Quandzie