The Ghana cedi lost 1.57% to the US dollar on the retail market last week despite the Bank of Ghana’s intervention of US$137.35 million.
This took the year-to-date loss to 2.66%.
It was the second week running that the local currency slipped against the American greenback after an impressive session.
The announcement of the scrapping of some taxes heightened uncertainties regarding the government’s ability to meet its fiscal targets.
The cedi lost 3.45% week-on-week versus the pound and 5.51% against the euro respectively.
Meanwhile, the local currency began selling at GH¢16.00 this week.
The Finance Minister, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson presented the 2025 budget statement to parliament last week, expecting to eliminate the Electronic Transaction Levy, COVID-19 Levy, Betting and Emission Taxes.
Following the announcement, Ghana’s US dollar-denominated bonds declined 1.5 cents, reflecting investor concerns about the revenue generation outlook under the new fiscal policies.
Though the government seeks to undertake some spending cuts to offset the revenue losses from these tax reductions, analysts expect to see some fiscal slippage in the near term that will negatively impact the cedi’s near-term outlook.
Source: Myjoyonline.com
