Rising oil imports threaten cedi’s recent stability

Last week, the Ghanaian cedi experienced renewed pressure, depreciating by 1.48% against the US dollar due to increased corporate demand for foreign currency, especially for crude oil imports.

The cedi also fell 2.80% against the British pound and 2.18% against the euro.

Refined oil import costs rose to $428.3 million in June 2024, further straining the cedi despite the Bank of Ghana’s efforts to support it.

Analysts from Databank Research warn that the higher oil import bill poses a risk to Ghana’s net foreign reserves and expect continued weakening of the cedi in the near term.