-Only Better Than Zambian Kwacha, As Akufo Addo Runs Economy Aground.
The Ghanaian local currency, the Cedi, has devalued by a whopping 4.70% barely two months in 2022, data reveals.
Contrary to spins by Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, the fundamentals of the economy under the Akufo Addo administration has drastically deteriorated, forcing the cedi to currently be trading at GH¢6.60 to one US dollar on the forex market.
According to data sourced by the international newswire, Bloomberg, out of 15 of the best-performing currencies in Africa, Ghana is the worst, except for the Zambian Kwacha which is at the bottom of the chart.
Earlier, Bloomberg tracking of African currencies revealed that the Cedi placed 14th on the league of African currencies in 2021.
The local currency was classified among the currencies with the ‘worst spot returns’.
According to Bloomberg, the cedi lost 4.98% in value against the US dollar in 2021, although data from other research institutions show a slightly lower decline in the value of the local currency to the American currency.
Ghana’s currency depreciation has been attributed to the country’s high-risk economy caused by extreme indebtedness.
Public debt currently stands at over GHC 300 billion, with the Akufo Addo accumulating the bulk of it.
The government which promised prudence while in opposition is the one that had accumulated more public debt than all others combined since Ghana’s independence.
As it stands now, the debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is over 80%. This has triggered bad reviews from rating agencies, including Fitch, Moody’s which recently downgraded Ghana’s creditworthiness to one of the lowest in history.