Claims that Ghana cedi has appreciated to GHS 8.2 against the dollar false

On March 4, 2025, several social media posts suggested that the Ghana cedi had sharply appreciated against the US dollar.

The posts (here, here and here) indicated that one dollar is now equal to GHS8.28.  

One X user claimed that the current Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson’s efforts within a month of being appointed have caused the appreciation of the cedi against the dollar.

“Ato Forson in 30 days has taken the dislike (cedi) from Ghc16 to Ghc8. Something Ofori-Atta couldn’t do in 8 years,” the post noted.

Fact-check Ghana has verified the data above and presents the findings below.

Verdict: False

Explanation

On March 04, 2025, Google searches showed that the Ghana cedi had sharply appreciated against the US dollar. The searches indicated that one dollar was equal to GHS8.28. However, this was found to be a Google glitch as within a short period, the figure changed from GHS8.28 to GHS15.49 to a dollar.

Also, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) publishes Daily Interbank FX Rates on its website. The Daily Interbank FX Rates are the exchange rates pairing of the Ghana cedi with several other currencies.

The March 4, 2025, exchange rates by Ghana’s Central Bank indicated that the Ghana cedi could be bought at GHS15.5 and was selling at GHS15.5278 with a mid rate of GHS15.5200.

The BoG had also posted these figures on X on March 4, 2025.

Moreover, although the rates by the Apex Bank may differ slightly from commercial banks, Stanbic Bank’s rates for March 4, 2025, were very similar to the BoG.

This is not the first time Google has recorded a glitch regarding the Ghana cedi on its exchange rate converter. On March 15, 2019, when one dollar converted to GHS 5.39 Ghana cedis, Google displayed GHS 22.72. The data above suggests that the viral claims on social media that the cedi has sharply appreciated against the dollar are completely false.