Oct 25-about Nov 17
In the past 3-ish weeks, I have noticed how much the value of the Ghanaian cedi (GHS) has depreciated compared to the US dollar. When I first got here, I was getting 2000 GHS out of my bank account in early August and it was the equivalent of $209 out of my account. The last week of October I got 2000, and it was worth $143. The week of Nov 15, I drew out 2000 and it was $135. What a huge difference in just a little less than three months! Though it’s good for me, it's really bad for my Ghanaian friends and their economy. Another way to think about it is that when I got here, the GHS was 9 to $1 USD. Now it’s almost 13 to 1.
In addition to the value of the GHS going down, inflation is getting more and more out of control here, as it is in the rest of the world. But here it seems more dire than in the US. A loaf of bread was 25 GHS on Oct 26. Then at the same place on Oct 30, the same loaf of bread was 30 GHS. That is a pretty major price increase in just a few days. And since then, things have gone up exponentially.
Where I am staying, at Sasakawa, the cost since August has been 180 GHS. In August that equaled to about $17 USD at that time. However, on Nov 8-ish, they changed the rate to 250. For me, currently the price increase from 180 (about $14 as of Nov 17) to 250 ($20) is quite small. But for someone who is paying in GHS, the price increase is pretty drastic. Also, they upped their prices for food in the Sasakawa restaurant: for jollof rice and grilled chicken, it was 28 GHS, and it is now I think 35 GHS.
It's a bit mind blowing for me to know that, even though the prices here are going up, that things are actually CHEAPER (like, literally cheaper in many cases) for me now, than when I got here, due to the increased strength of the USD and the decreased worth of the GHS. THIS IS NOT GOOD. Sure, it’s good for me personally, but I would be happy to pay more, knowing that people here wouldn’t be suffering so much because they can’t afford certain things.
I don’t know if this makes sense, and it may be too much “in the weeds” details about money. But it’s a pretty serious problem now here, so I wanted to write about it. And there does not seem to be a solution in sight, nor any apparent help from the government. I worry for my friends. And because of all of this, now, most every time I am out and about with a Ghanaian friend, I pay for everything because…well, because I can comfortably do it, and it’s the right thing to do.
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