ACCRA (Reuters) - Ghana's cedi currency is expected to gain about 3 percent between now and the end of the year, in a continued recovery from heavy losses in the first six months, Finance Minister Kwabena Duffuor said on Thursday.
"The cedi has recovered considerably... and we are hoping it will gain about 3 percent between now and end of December," he said.
The cedi was trading at 1.893 to dollar on Thursday afternoon, and a 3 percent gain would put it at 1.838.
The currency of the cocoa, gold and oil producing country plunged nearly 20 percent in the first half of the year on soaring import demand to fuel the growing economy, but began a recovery in August after a series of interest rate hikes and increased market intervention by the central bank.
"We are looking at 11-12 percent total depreciation (of the cedi) for this year because we are not relenting in our tight fiscal management and macro-economic consolidation," he said.
The cedi's depreciation has been cited as a key inflation risk in the country, where the pace of consumer price increases remains just below 10 percent.
Ghana will hold presidential and parliamentary elections next month and Duffuor said government was making efforts to prevent fiscal slippage associated with past election years.
"Inflation has remained in single digits for several months now, the cedi is strengthening - our macro-economic indicators are pointing to the right direction and the government is committed to building on these achievements, whether we are in an election year or not," he said.
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"The cedi has recovered considerably... and we are hoping it will gain about 3 percent between now and end of December," he said.
The cedi was trading at 1.893 to dollar on Thursday afternoon, and a 3 percent gain would put it at 1.838.
The currency of the cocoa, gold and oil producing country plunged nearly 20 percent in the first half of the year on soaring import demand to fuel the growing economy, but began a recovery in August after a series of interest rate hikes and increased market intervention by the central bank.
"We are looking at 11-12 percent total depreciation (of the cedi) for this year because we are not relenting in our tight fiscal management and macro-economic consolidation," he said.
The cedi's depreciation has been cited as a key inflation risk in the country, where the pace of consumer price increases remains just below 10 percent.
Ghana will hold presidential and parliamentary elections next month and Duffuor said government was making efforts to prevent fiscal slippage associated with past election years.
"Inflation has remained in single digits for several months now, the cedi is strengthening - our macro-economic indicators are pointing to the right direction and the government is committed to building on these achievements, whether we are in an election year or not," he said.
yahoo.com
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