President of the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), Dr. Joseph Obeng, has called on forex traders and Ghanaians at large to be mindful of the adverse effects of speculations over the Cedi against the Dollar.
According to him, the constant misinformation about the exchange rate in the country, has accounted for massive panic buys among traders, downgrading the strength of the cedi over the past few months.
In an exclusive interview with Samuel Eshun, host of e.tv Ghana’s “Fact Sheet” show, Dr. Obeng advocated a halt in the panic purchases as he encouraged the sustainability of the cedi’s appreciation.
“The cedi appreciation against the dollar is good news if it would be sustained. It is my wish that we do that speculate around the dollar in the negative sense again and it should come in the light of the positive news. That is why today when the news came in the morning that the dollar is falling against the cedi, I was happy and that is how it should go. Right now, I think the major problem has been the panic buying as a result of the negative speculation that is going on,” he said.
“We are all speculating. From the consumer, normal citizens and the behaviour of our banks. So, the trading community out of fear of it rises by a small fraction has become afraid and are shouting at the roof top. All these amount to speculation,” he stressed.
Dr. Obeng further reiterated that the excessive demand on the country’s limited forex contributed to the depreciation of the local currency.
*Background*
The cedi is currently trading at 13.60 to 1 US dollar, slowing the rate of depreciation for three days in a row.
The value of the local currency increased by roughly 1.07% last week against the American “greenback.”
Despite this, it continues to be the worst-performing currency on the African continent in 2022, having lost almost 55% of its value against the US dollar since the beginning of the year.