President John Dramani Mahama has assured Ghanaians that the Cedi will not equate to $1, stating that the Bank of Ghana is closely monitoring the situation to prevent any potential collapse of the export sector.
According to him, the recent appreciation of the cedi is due to close coordination between fiscal and monetary policies by the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance.
This increase in value is driven by the foreign exchange auction system, which works based on demand and supply.
Speaking at the presidency during a multi-sectoral meeting on the 24-hour economy policy on May 28, 2025,
President Mahama explained that the Bank of Ghana conducts a forex auction to determine how many cedis in the market need foreign exchange to pay various bills and obligations.
He added that those who need foreign currency place bids in the auction. The Bank then calculates an average exchange rate, accepts the cedis, and provides the corresponding dollars.
“The Cedi recently has appreciated in value and it is the result of close coordination between fiscal and monetary between the Central Bank and Ministry of Finance. It’s based on the forex auction and demand and supply. What happens is the Bank of Ghana does its forex auction, it finds out how much cedis are in the system that need forex to pay various bills and others. And those who want the forex bid on the auction and the Bank strikes the average and takes the cedis and makes the dollars available.”
He further said that the dollar’s depreciation is not caused by anyone deliberately pushing it down. Instead, it reflects the true value of the cedi as determined by bids in the forex market based on demand and supply. This system is expected to stabilize the cedi at its real value.
President Mahama explained that the idea of the cedi reaching GHC 1 to $1 is extreme and would severely damage the country’s export sector.
He also said that the Governor of the Bank of Ghana is actively watching the situation and will intervene if the exchange rate falls below a certain level.
The Bank aims to keep the cedi within a realistic range against foreign currencies to protect economic stability. While it is unclear how much further the cedi may fall, the central bank’s close monitoring gives assurance that corrective actions will be taken if needed, he added.
“And so it’s not like someone is deliberately forcing the dollar down, it is the result of the bids that is finding what the true value of the cedi is and I believe that it will arrest where the true value is based on the issues of demand and supply.
”And so I don’t envisage that someone people say it will come to GHC 1, $1, no, that’s extreme, we will virtually collapse our export sector if that happens but I think that the Governor of the Bank has an eye on it, if it goes below a certain floor, I’m sure that the Bank of Ghana will make an intervention to make sure that it remains within a certain band that gives a true value of the cedi against the other foreign currencies so don’t panic, if you haven’t changed your dollars, I don’t know how much further lower it will go but the Governor has an eye on it and we will see how things go.”
