Understanding The Depreciation Of The Ghana Cedi
In January 2022, a dollar was somewhere around GHS7. Now a dollar has hit the GHS10 mark, officially an all time low in value against the dollar. The cedi has depreciated over 30% against the US dollar since the start of 2022.
Now let us understand why the Ghana Cedi has fallen over 30% since January.
Ghana mostly depends on imports including crude oil, metals, electronics, consumables etc. The country makes payments in dollars. Now it must pay more for the same quantity of items resulting in increased cost of production and services. So, you see yourself paying more since final cost is transferred to the consumer.
Inflation then sets in. The failing Cedi’s biggest impact is on inflation. Given Ghana’s level of import appetite, high import prices manifesting into high cost of goods and services creates inflationary pressures in the economy.