A financial analyst, Joe Jackson, has attributed the current appreciation of the value of the cedi to internal and external factors.
Internally, the Chief Executive Officer of Dalex Finance praised the Gold4Oil programme for anchoring the cedi. He cited the global depreciation of the dollar due to some policies by US President, Donald Trump, as the external factor.
“The external factors have been good to Ghana. And we have put ourselves in a position to take advantage of the external factors. Why do we say the external factors have been good? The Trump tariff fall. That single event triggered by President Trump in the US, has had 3 effects on US. Number one is that the dollar has depreciated against all major currencies. That the dollar is depreciating against our cedi is not news. Because President Trump has said that he wants the price of a barrel of oil to come to as low as $40.
That means that the single biggest import for this country, which is fuel products, where we are importing over 400 million a month, the cost of that has come down, so there is less pressure on the cedi. So, the dollar is in trouble.,” he said on TV3’s KeyPoints on May 17.
Joe Jackson further stated that, “Yesterday, international rating agencies have downgraded US credit. So the factors have aligned for us. So the oil prices have been falling and this week fuel prices will reduce at the pumps.
Touching on the contribution of the Gold4Oil programme to the cedi’s appreciation, the Financial Analyst noted that “globally, investors have moved their investments into gold because they are looking for somewhere safe. Gold has for the past eight years outperformed the dollar. I have always said that Gold is one way we are going to save the country.
“I applauded the Gold Reserve/ Gold4Oil programme. The Gold4Oil, however corrupt, delivered on its objective. Goldbod will deliver if our Governor keeps his commitment to stay with the Gold4Oil programme, you will see the cedi appreciate,” Mr Jackson added.
For his part, Mr Rockson Dafeamekpor, MP for South Dayi and Majority Chief Whip, lauded the Finance Minister, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson and the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Asiama for the innovative policies they have introduced to strengthen the cedi.
“I think that the Finance Minister and the Governor also deserve some credit for the initiatives they have introduced to shore up the value of the cedi, despite the external factors,” he said.
