BoG increases supply of dollars to stem cedi fall

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has started releasing more dollars onto the market to help halt the cedis’ depreciation.

The BoG took the decision after a meeting with the commercial banks in the country last Friday.

The regulator was also seeking to get some insights from the bankers on factors causing cedi’s fall.

Joy Business has learned that an initial amount of 20 million dollars was released on Friday after the meeting, with a promise that more will now be advanced to the commercial banks every day going forward.

The move has been hailed by industry watchers as a step in the right direction.

The country currently requires about 300 million dollars every week to finance imports, so if the Bank of Ghana should be advancing on the average some 20 million dollars a day that will amount to about 100 million dollars a week, still short of what is required every week to support imports.

Since one of the main causes of local currency’s depreciation is a serious short fall in supply of dollar cash on the market, the action by the central bank should bring some relief to businesses.

Businesses in the country have over the past weeks been struggling to get dollars to finance their imports.

However, some of commercial banks told Joy Business the amount being released is still not enough to meet the needs of their clients.

The local currency is said to have depreciated by a little over 20 percent against the dollar. You will today need about 4 Ghana cedis 4 pessewas to get a dollar from commercial banks.