On Monday, June 3, an unusual situation occurred on the website of the Ghana Forex Bureaux Association, which failed to publish the exchange rates for various foreign currencies as it typically does. Instead, the site displayed “0000” against all the currencies.
Sources close to The Accra Times indicate that the Bank of Ghana (BoG) requested the omission of the rates due to the rapid increase in the value of the dollar against the Cedi. The website will refrain from posting the rates until the leadership of the Association holds an urgent meeting with officials from the Central Bank later this week, at the request of the regulator.
Over the past two months, the dollar has surged significantly, selling at over 16 cedis at the forex bureaux. On the interbank market on Monday, June 3, the US dollar opened trading between 15.00 and 15.20 cedis, continuing the upward trend from the previous week.
The cedi’s depreciation has been attributed to a low supply of dollars to meet the increased demand, stemming from a drop in export revenue, especially cocoa, and increased demand from corporate organisations and importers.
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However, the Central Bank believes that the activities of illegal forex operators and speculators are exacerbating the Cedi’s depreciation. In response, the Bank has implemented enforcement measures announced two weeks ago.
These measures include collaborating with the Financial Intelligence Centre to arrest illegal operators and sanitise the foreign exchange market, increasing monitoring of Forex Bureaux to ensure compliance with regulatory frameworks, and establishing a task force to oversee compliance among Forex Bureaux.
Despite these measures, many market watchers remain sceptical about their effectiveness, arguing that as long as the underlying economic fundamentals remain weak, the exchange rate will continue to depreciate.
