The dollar to cedi rate has significantly turned around after the Bank of Ghana received the first tranche of the IMF $3 billion loan. Ghana's Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta said on Friday that the first $600 million tranche of a $3 billion, three-year extended credit facility has been received. The funds will be used for budget support and help bring down inflation, Finance Minister Ofori-Atta announced on Twitter.

As predicted by financial experts, including Prince Obiri Yeboah, that the cedi will see a significant appreciation when Ghana receives the loan, the dollar to cedi exchange rate is suddenly depreciating whilst the cedi is performing remarkably well.

Isaac Osei, a Currency dealer confirmed to Nana Yaw Boamah on the Ghana Fapim show this morning that during the early hours of May 20^th 2023, the dollar was selling at ghc10.00 and buying at 10.50 as against the previous day where the sale of the dollar was pitched at ghc10.30. He further outlined the progress of the Cedi-to-Pound exchange rates and Cedi-Euro exchange.

“Last night, the Cedi-to-Euro exchange rate was ghc11.20. However, this morning, it stands at ghc10.80. Additionally, last night the cedi-to- Pounds exchange rate was ghc13.70. But this morning has witnessed a significant improvement where it has dropped to ghc13.40.” He clarified.

According to Bloomberg’s tracker, the cedi has advanced 33% since November, which is the biggest gain among about 150 currencies. Ghana’s dollar bonds have delivered a strong performance too, providing investors with a return of almost 12%, more than the 3.6% average for emerging and frontier peers in a Bloomberg index.

Daniel Kavishe, an Africa economist at Rand Merchant Bank, also noted that on the back of positive sentiment and if the authorities receive the first tranche of funding, the cedi is likely to also see gains in the coming days, to trade at levels below 10 against the dollar,” he said in a note to clients.

Meanwhile, the Governor of Bank of Ghana Dr. Ernest Kwamina Addison has applauded the management of the IMF for Wednesday’s loan approval. He called on key stakeholders to come and support Ghana and maintained that, the country is looking forward to and continuing to count on expedited programs to conclude the remaining negotiations on external debt restructuring to ensure that Ghana get the full benefit of the fund.