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| BoG says measures are slowing down cedi depreciation |
4/20/2014 |
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Head of Financial Stability at the Bank of Ghana, Mr Benjamin Amoah has said there
is a slowdown in the depreciation of the Cedi, after measures by the Bank of Ghana
(BOG) to halt it.
The BOG introduced measures at the beginning of the year, to halt the depreciating of
the Cedi, among which was the withdrawal of both Foreign Currency and Foreign
Exchange Accounts in Cedis at the existing exchange rate over the counter, except
for traveling purposes.
Mr Amoah who was speaking at a seminar by the Institute of Economic Affairs in Accra,
explained that with the introduction of the new measures, the cumulative depreciation
of the Cedi against the dollar which was 7.2 per cent from the beginning of January this
year, has been reduced to 1.29 per cent as at April 9.
He said in addition to the slowdown in the pace of the depreciation, the market has also
witnessed a decline in the volatility of the Cedi to the US Dollar.
Mr Amoah said this at the Institute of Economic Affairs Ghana Policy Forum in Accra on
the theme, “The Bank of Ghana’s Response to the Cedi Crisis: An interim Review and
Way Forward’’.
He disclosed that in the medium to long term, however, fostering the stability in the Cedi
would require a strict adherence to budgetary targets, to minimize budget deficits,
improving revenue mobilization by widening the tax base, diversification of exports and
more intensive efforts to block foreign exchange leakages.
“There is also the need for greater co-ordination, collaboration, communication and
co-operation between the fiscal managers and the Bank of Ghana, and this is because,
high fiscal and current account deficits, are usually associated with significant exchange
rate depreciation.
“So as we work towards changing the structure of the economy, there is also the need to
bring our fiscal and current account deficits to sustainable levels to ensure sustainable
stability of the Cedi,” he said.
Economist and Deputy Rector at GIMPA, Dr Nii Noi Ashong said there exists a
fundamental structural imbalance between the demand and supply of foreign exchange,
exerting depreciating pressure on the Ghana cedi, and posing a constraint to the efficient development of the domestic foreign exchange market.
He said the high economic growth rates in Ghana since 2009 has brought in its wake an
increase in economic activity and a corresponding higher demand for imports.
“Ghana’s investment requirements far exceed the levels of domestic savings needed to
finance them and in such an environment, current account deficits are natural
occurrences which put pressure on the domestic currency to depreciate.”
“Ghana’s large current account deficits are mainly financed by Official Development
Assistance and private financial capital inflows and this means that despite the
underlying structural depreciating pressures on the cedi, there is also a built-in volatility
of the exchange rate to changes in market expectations and sentiments,” he said.
Dr Ashong, therefore, urged BOG to aim at reasonably high holdings of international
reserves, to cushion the nation against any potential pressures that may arise from
operating liberalized open capital account.
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