The Ghana cedi has stabilized against the US dollar, according to Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, with a year-to-date cumulative depreciation of 25.7 percent compared to 54.1 percent over the same economic period in 2022.
Mr. Ofori-Atta claimed that the cedi has been performing well against the international currency since the beginning of this year, with a cumulative depreciation of only 6.4 percent since February 2023, compared to 53.9 percent during the same period in 2022.
“The stability of the Cedi largely reflects the positive impact of the restoration of economic activity,” the economic chief said during the 2024 budget presentation in Parliament on Wednesday.
He added that the government was determined to maintain the level of discipline necessary to ensure economic recovery.
Mr. Ofori-Atta stressed that the government had turned the corner on the verge of addressing economic challenges in the country when it successfully finished the first review of the 3-year, $3 billion International Monetary Fund External Credit Facility (IMF-ECF) program.
“We turned the corner when we completed the IMF’s first review,” he reiterated.
Mr. Ofori-Atta reassured Ghanaians that the governing NPP government is readily ready to “maintain stability, keep growing, and ensure increased growth and currency stability.”
“We turned the corner when inflation started declining from 54.1 in December to 35.2 in October 2023, he stated.
“The recovery is indeed real and is here to stay,” he further assured.
He detailed that the quick deployment of strong fiscal and monetary policy steps taken to resolve the economy since the last year as well as in the first half of 2023 hugely accounts for the steady economic recovery that is being witnessed.
“So far, growth in 2023 has been more resilient than expected; inflation has declined in line with the fundamentals; the fiscal and external balances have improved; and the exchange rate has stabilized,” he said.