Ghana’s Cedi is the second best performing currency on the West African Sub-region behind the CFA franc,  according to the Bank of Ghana.

The Central Bank of Ghana has asked banks to hold onto dividend payments and other measures appeared to have helped the cedi’s performance this year.

The Ghanaian Cedi was the best performing currency in the first two months of 2020 but has witnessed both quick and slow runs so far.

The local currency benefited from low demand pressures, largely because of the covid-19 pandemic due to reduction in imports.

The CFA franc, used by eight ECOWAS countries, is the best performing currency on the African continent and West Africa with an appreciation of 5.69% against the US dollar.

It is followed by the Moroccan dirham (4.03%), Tunisian dinar (2.39%) and Egyptian pound (0.70%) which have all increased in value against the American currency year-to-date.

Additionally, the Tanzanian shilling (-0.42%), the Ugandan shilling (-0.14%) and the Malawian kwacha (-1.49%) have all also fared better than the cedi though have lost value to the dollar.

The Cedi did better than the Nigerian naira (-19.24%) in West Africa and the South African rand (-19.51%) on the African continent.

Based on the current trend, the cedi is expected to end 2020 with a year-to-date depreciation of less than 5.0%. This would be however better than the 8.33% loss over the same period last year.

Paa Kweku Eshun Talksafrica.com