The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has commended Ghana for the recent stabilisation of the Cedi, describing it as a sign of strengthening economic fundamentals, renewed policy credibility, and growing investor confidence.
Speaking at the October 2025 Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa in Washington, D.C., during the IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings, Mr. Abebe Aemro Selassie, Director of the IMF’s African Department, praised Ghana’s progress in restoring macroeconomic stability.
“A couple of years ago, all the concern in Ghana was about uncontrolled depreciation. It’s encouraging to see stability returning to the economy — allowing the Cedi to stabilise and even begin to appreciate,” Mr. Selassie said.
He noted that the Cedi’s performance reflected improving competitiveness and sound fundamentals, but cautioned against excessive appreciation, which could undermine the economy. “We don’t want that to get too frothy,” he added, urging the Bank of Ghana to limit excessive intervention in the foreign exchange market.
Mr. Selassie explained that Ghana’s relatively shallow capital, foreign exchange, and money markets made the country vulnerable to volatility, emphasizing the need for a balanced approach. “It’s about striking the right balance. Too much interference can cause problems when you have market flaws and are trying to calibrate policies to minimise them,” he stated.
In the first half of 2025, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) injected a total of US$3.4 billion into the currency market — US$1.4 billion in the first quarter and US$2 billion in the second — to stabilise the Cedi and strengthen external reserves.
Responding to concerns about intervention, Dr. Johnson Asiama Pandit, Governor of the Bank of Ghana, said the measures were necessary to prevent market disruption. “We do not over-support the market at all,” he explained. “Our goal is simply to reduce volatility and ensure smooth market dynamics — that’s the framework we’ll continue to maintain.”
Meanwhile, President John Dramani Mahama acknowledged during a media engagement in September that the Central Bank’s interventions were aimed at correcting temporary imbalances caused by the rapid appreciation of the Cedi.
He added that while the BoG had since scaled back its interventions, adjustments were needed to balance conditions for both exporters and importers. “The rapid appreciation was unfavourable to exporters, so we had to make sure the market remains fair and sustainable for all,” the President said.
