Ghana’s Cedi Rallied 7% in a Week. Street Rates Barely Moved
The official rate moved almost seven percent in seven days. Walk into a forex bureau and you would hardly notice. The post Ghana’s Cedi Rallied 7% in a Week. Street Rates Barely Moved appeared first on The Rio Times .
In mid-August 2026, Ghana's cedi experienced a sharp weekly gain of nearly 7% against the dollar on the interbank market, while forex bureaux continued to sell dollars at a significantly higher rate. The interbank rate fell from GH¢11.75 on August 10 to GH¢10.94 on August 17, with sterling and the euro moving in tandem. This improvement in the cedi's value is not easily felt by most Ghanaians, as street rates remained relatively unchanged, with forex bureaux selling dollars at GH¢12.30 and buying at GH¢11.80.
The difference between the official interbank rate and the street rate highlights the disconnect between wholesale and retail transactions. The improvement in the cedi's value is attributed to a new gold arrangement that went into effect on August 13, under the Ghana Accelerated National Reserve Accumulation Policy, which requires large-scale miners to sell 30% of their output to the central bank for local refining.
This policy was first introduced in February 2026, with the 30% large-scale component starting from August 13. Despite the gains, gross international reserves have declined from US$14.15bn in March to US$12.94bn in June 2026, falling short of the government's target of 15 months of import cover by 2028. While the gold policy is seen as a defensible use of Ghana's best asset, generating US$20.2bn in export earnings in 2025, it is too early to claim that the August rally proves the policy is working.
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