Economist and political risk analyst Dr. Theo Acheampong, has said the appreciation of the Ghana cedi has not yet reached the point of sustainability.
He expects the point to be reached within the next week or two, when stability would have taken hold, allowing for proper planning to ascertain the feat.
“For many businesses and many other observers, what is important is stability,” he stated.
Dr. Acheampong, speaking on the KeyPoints on TV3 on Saturday, May 17, 2025, indicated that the current market trend would require some extra time for the indices to adequately qualify as stable.
He was commenting on the recent appreciation of the Ghana cedi against the U.S. dollar and whether it is sustainable or otherwise.
“So, we want the currency to be stable around a certain mark that allows for planning. I don’t think that with the current correction that we are seeing within the market, we are at that point yet. But eventually, maybe in the next week or two, things will settle and then we can plan appropriately along those lines,” he stated.
The economist also advised those at the helm of managing the nation’s currency not to use all the nation’s reserves to push the cedi up, bearing in mind the Eurobonds Ghana needs to settle in the next few years.
“And then importantly also, the need not to burn all of the reserves to try and pop the currency. We still need to accumulate enough reserves to allow us to also meet some of our other obligations. We got US$3.6b or so of Eurobonds that we need to service in 2026 and 2027,” he counseled.
Meanwhile, “the biggest benefit” Dr. Acheampong said he foresee coming in the subsequent weeks, is for the cedi’s strength to reflect in inflation by bringing prices down for Ghanaians to feel the impact of the gains.
“I foresee in the coming weeks in all of this is the appreciating cedi should actually cascade into lowered inflation,” he stated.
The Ghana cedi has been named the world’s best-performing currency in May, after appreciating nearly 16 per cent against the US dollar since the start of April 2025, according to Bloomberg.
The currency’s rally has helped ease inflationary pressures, contributing to Ghana’s lowest inflation rate in eight months. As of today, May 19, 2025, the cedi is trading around GH₵13.50 against the dollar.
Bloomberg data showed that since the beginning of April, the cedi has outpaced all global currencies in terms of gains against the US dollar, bolstering consumer confidence and easing pressure on the cost of imported goods.
Inflation in Ghana has remained above the central bank’s target band of 6 per cent to 10 per cent since September 2021, following a debt crisis that triggered a sharp depreciation in the cedi and sent import costs soaring. The MPC forecasts inflation could fall to around 16% by the end of 2025, and gradually return to the target range by the second quarter of 2026.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF), which is working closely with Ghana under a support programme, also expressed optimism. “It makes us very confident that inflation is going to go down in the next few months toward the program objectives,” said Stéphane Roudet, IMF Mission Chief to Ghana, during a recent briefing in Washington.
