Dr Ernest Addison – Governor BoG
Ghana’s Gross International Reserves (GIR) increased by $1.67 billion to $8.70 billion as at November 15, 2019.
The Bank of Ghana (BoG) made this known to journalists on Monday, November 25, 2019, at a press conference after its 91st Monetary Policy Meeting.
Governor of the Central Bank, Dr. Ernest Addison, said the increase provided a cover for 4.2 months of imports.
He stated that “this compares with the end-December 2018 position of $7.02 billion (equivalent to 3.6 months of import cover).
Exchange Market
According to him, the Foreign exchange market has continued to remain calm since the sharp depreciations in the first quarter of the year.
As at November 21, 2019, he noted, the Ghana cedi has depreciated by 10.4 percent against the US dollar compared with an 8.1 percent depreciation for the corresponding period in 2018.
Against the British Pound and Euro, he reported, the Ghana Cedi cumulatively depreciated by 11.2 percent and 7.4 percent respectively, compared with 2.6 percent over the corresponding period in 2018.
In trade-weighted terms, the real effective exchange rate continued to be broadly aligned with the underlying fundamentals.
BY Melvin Tarlue