The Ghana Cedi has been ranked as 2022 second weakest currency on the African continent with a year-to-date loss of 38.86% to the US dollar.
Globally, the local currency placed 145th. The Sierra Leone Leone came 146th whilst the Argentina Peso and Sierra Lankan Rupee placed 147th and 148th respectively.
They were classified as the currencies with the “Worst Spot Returns” by Bloomberg.
All these countries had challenges with their economies as debt levels had become unsustainable, whilst budget deficits had worryingly enlarged.
In Africa, the Kenyan Shilling (-8.32%), The Gambian Dalasi (-15.28%), Malawian Kwacha (-20.51), New Sudanese Pound (-22.87%), Egyptian Pound (-36.46%), Ghana Cedi (-38.36%) and Sierra Leone Leone (-40.58%) were the currencies with the “Worst Spot Returns”.
For the “Best Spot Returns”, the Guinea Franc (7.67%), Somali Shilling (1.77%), Mozambique New Metical (0.37%), Djibouti Franc (-0.08%), Tanzania Shilling (-1.05%), Congolese Franc (-1.13%) and Rwanda Franc (-3.87%) were the strongest currencies in Africa in 2022.
In 2022, the Ghana cedi came under severe pressure, losing over 50% in value at a point in time before a resurgence in December, following a Staff-Level Agreement reached between the International Monetary Fund and the Government of Ghana. This reduced its year-to-date losses significantly.
The local currency, thus, ended 2022, selling at about ¢11.60 on the average to the American ‘greenback’ in the retail or forex market.
According to Bloomberg, the cedi recorded an 18.21% rate of depreciation to the US dollar in the first quarter of 2022, according to Bloomberg.
This ranked the local currency as the worst among African currencies with the “Worst Spot Returns”.
