Stop The Dishonest Misinformation: The Cedi is The Third Strongest Currency in Africa-Ernest Owusu Bempah
The debate around the depreciating cedi has been going on for sometime now but the distortions are getting in the way of the facts.
Before I expose the flaws of the NDC propaganda, let me be upfront and go back to the Mahama era in 2014, and here was the voice of popular preacher Nicholas Duncan Williams as he offers up a prayer for the recovery of the Ghanaian currency:
“I hold up the cedi – and I command the cedi to recover! I declare the cedi will not fall any further. I command the cedi to climb. I command the resurrection of the cedi! In the name of Jesus I command a miracle for Ghana’s economy!”
That is just one indication of how seriously the fall in the value of the cedi against major foreign currencies was regarded in the past.
Indeed, the cedi fell to a record low on foreign exchange markets when the United States scaled back its stimulus program and investors ran shy of emerging markets. Ghana’s central bank responded by raising its main interest rate by 2 full percentage points on February 6, 2014 and the government tightened foreign exchange controls.
We’re basically facing similar issues today with the relative weakness of a number of currencies, including the cedi, against the dollar, to measures being implemented by America’s Federal Reserve. As a matter of fact the measures put in place by the Federal Reserve has caused some shock spillovers to many emerging markets, causing their currencies to depreciate at rates and magnitudes higher than the cedi. Other countries that have experienced challenges with the dollar include the Argentina Peso which has depreciated by 50.2%; the Turkish Lira by 42%; the South African Rand by 19.2%; the Indian Rupee by 11.2%; the UK Pound by 4.29% and the Euro by 4.2%.
As a matter of fact, situating the Cedi’s performance in context, it is trite that the exchange rate of the cedi to the US dollar remained relatively stable when compared with movements in other currencies against the US dollar.
Yes, inspite of the fact that the cedi experienced marginal year-to-date depreciation against the US dollar in 2022, the cedi appears to be the star performer in emerging economies’ currencies strength against the dollar, and only the Euro and UK Pound appear to have performed better than the cedi against a resurgent US dollar.
A simple google check and referencing the rate at which other currencies are depreciating against the dollar will have shown that the Cedi in terms of value is indeed the third strongest currency in Africa.
I challenge the propagandists and the naysayers to name any currency in Africa that is stronger than the Cedi apart from the Tunisian Dinar and Libyan Dinar.
It is about time we stop the propaganda and the politicisation of currency management.
All said and done, it is clear that the NPP government have managed the exchange rate much better than our predecessors and also much better than many other countries this year.
Source :Ernest Kofi Owusu Bempah Bonsu – Deputy Director of Communications, NPP
