Cedi depreciation: Kayayei, civil servants buy dollars with their pay – GUTA

President of Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), Dr Joseph Obeng, has disclosed that many Ghanaians, including head potters and civil servants, buy dollars and keep them for the future.

He indicated that these head potters, popularly known as kayayei exchange their Cedi earned from their daily services for dollars awaiting a fall of the cedi to resell them.

These dollars bought by Ghanaians, Dr Obeng said, can be attributed to the frequent depreciation of the local currency against major currencies.

Speaking on Peace FM’s Ade Akye Abia on Monday, he said, “It got to a time that kayayei after working in a day change their wages into dollars.”

“This happened at the time that a pastor asked Ghanaians to pray for the dollar…It got to a time that Ghanaians didn’t have faith in the Cedi. Civil servants also purchased dollars with their pay,” the GUTA President stated.

The local currency – Cedi – has in the past week witnessed a decline in value against major trading currencies, Pounds Sterling, US Dollars and Euros.

The Cedi is currently trading against the dollar at a buying price of GH¢9.55 pesewas and selling at GH¢9.77pesewas.

Against the Pounds Sterling, the Cedi is bought at GH¢11.35 and sold at GH¢11.70.

Meanwhile, the Bank of Ghana (BoG), on the other hand, has entreated Ghanaians to remain calm as it implements pragmatic measures to resolve the cedi depreciation against major trading currencies, especially the US Dollar.

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As part of the measures, the central bank said it was increasing foreign currency (FX) supplies to banks in the short term to help meet growing FX demands for external payments.