President John Dramani Mahama has tasked the Bank of Ghana to maintain annual cedi depreciation within 5 percent, following the central bank’s withdrawal from direct intervention in the foreign exchange market.
Speaking at his first press briefing at the Jubilee House on Wednesday night, the president acknowledged that the Bank of Ghana had recently stepped into the forex market to curb rapid depreciation of the cedi. The move, he said, temporarily strengthened the local currency but also left it overvalued.
“I believe it was about stopping the rapid depreciation of the currency. When you have steep depreciation, like we experienced in 2024 — 25 percent in just the first half of the year — it makes planning difficult. And so yes, the Bank of Ghana was intervening in the forex market, but they have now withdrawn,” President Mahama said.
He explained that the withdrawal was necessary to allow the cedi to “find its natural value,” but assured that government is working with the central bank to ensure stability. “The cedi is making an adjustment and I believe it will settle at a certain rate. We will make sure that any depreciation in the value of the cedi stays within about 5 percent per annum,” he added.
The president’s directive has already sparked debate, with some analysts questioning the feasibility of imposing a fixed depreciation target on the central bank given global economic uncertainties and Ghana’s reliance on imports.
