Currency News Report – Week 48 [December 1, 2025]

The Ghanaian Cedi started the last month of the year on a weak note, continuing its recent decline as rising demand for foreign exchange trimmed down the local currency’s gains. The Cedi’s performance at the beginning of the week marks the fourth consecutive week-on-week loss against its three main trading partners. This is coming despite the central bank’s efforts to intervene in the domestic currency market. Strong demand for foreign exchange by importers and businesses ahead of the holiday season is significantly weighing on the local unit.

Late last week’s monetary policy rate announcement by the central bank further intensified pressures on the Cedi after the Bank of Ghana (BoG) announced another significant rate cut, bringing the policy rate down to a more than three-year low at 18.0%. This move signaled a general decline in interest rates, prompting investors to consider other markets. Nevertheless, a monetary policy committee meeting report revealed that a current account surplus, supported by favorable balances in capital and financial accounts, resulted in an overall balance of payments surplus of USD 1.8 billion. This led to an accumulation of reserve assets to USD 11.4 billion in October, representing 4.8 months of import cover. This strong reserve position gives the central bank confidence to continue its currency intervention strategies.

On the BoG inter-bank trading platform, the Cedi traded down by 1.62%, 2.79%, and 2.52% to open the week, selling at GHS 11.3057, GHS 14.9755, and GHS 13.1491 from last week’s opening trade quotes of GHS 11.1256, GHS 14.5689, and GHS 12.8259 against the Dollar, the Pound, and the Euro, respectively. The Dollar gained against the Cedi despite being hurt against some other major international peers after a run of tepid US economic data points reinforced the view that growth is cooling and inflation pressures are muted, thus increasing bets of a December rate cut.

On the Open Forex Market (oanda.com), the Cedi slowed down by 1.80%, 2.80%, and 2.59% to trade at GHS 11.3367, GHS 14.9982, and GHS 13.1677 at the start of the week from last week’s opening trade values of GHS 11.1360, GHS 14.5892, and GHS 12.8348 against the Dollar, the Pound, and the Euro, respectively. The Euro, despite facing some headwind after growth data in the bloc’s biggest economy showed stagnation, posted gains against some of its trading pairs, helped slightly by signs of progress in a peace plan between Russia and Ukraine.

The Cedi was quoted at GHC 14.7074 on the first trading day of the year against the Dollar and is currently being sold at GHS 11.3057, indicating a Year-to-Date (YTD) gain of 23.13% on the BoG inter-bank trading platform. It is also presently being quoted at GHS 11.3367 on the Open Forex Market (oanda.com) after opening the year at GHS 14.7134, indicating a YTD gain of 22.95%.