![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/cedis-696x392.jpg\" "\\"cedis\\"\/")
<\/div>\nThe Central Bank has affirmed its commitment to stabilizing the local currency for in the first quarter of this year.<\/p>\n
The Bank\u2019s affirmation follows the depreciation of the cedi by a marginal 0.25 percentage points against the American dollar eleven (11) days into the first quarter of 2021.<\/p>\n
The cedi on Monday, January 11, 2021 was trading at GHS 5.76 against the US dollar.<\/p>\n
The cedi, in the first quarter of every year, usually comes under some pressure due to the high demand for dollars by businesses to finance imports often resulting in a depreciation of the local currency.<\/p>\n
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To tackle the depreciation of the cedi in the first quarter of the year, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) has allotted close to $60 million per its bi-weekly forex forward auctions for Q1 2021.<\/p>\n
In total, the BoG will be selling a total of $300 million in its forex forward auctions in Q1 2021 alone.<\/p>\n
Speaking to the media, economist with DataBank, Courage Martey, noted that the amount of dollars to be sold by the BoG in Q1 2021 alone, is a recognition of the pressure the cedi goes through in the first quarter of every year by the Central Bank.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe amount of dollars to be sold in the first quarter shows a much bigger amount to be sold in the market for the first quarter compared to what is to be sold in the subsequent quarters and this is a recognition of the pressure the cedi goes through the first quarter. This is twice the amount to be sold in subsequent quarters,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The cedi, for the whole of last year \u2013 2020 \u2013 depreciated by 3.9 per cent, a depreciation rate performance partly achieved due to a weaker dollar caused by the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n
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