The Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod) has sold approximately US$125 million to commercial banks in its maiden foreign exchange auction under a new spot FX sales and intermediation framework.
The auction, held on Tuesday, forms part of GoldBod’s efforts to promote transparency, fairness and regulatory compliance in the foreign exchange market.
The initiative is also intended to provide commercial banks with more predictable and transparent access to US dollars through the GoldBod GoFX platform.
US$1bn planned FX sales to banks
GoldBod had earlier announced plans to sell US$1 billion to commercial banks during the month as part of measures to support stability in the foreign exchange market.
The programme is expected to generate approximately US$1.5 billion in total. Of this amount, US$1 billion will be sold to commercial banks, while the remaining US$500 million will be advanced to the Bank of Ghana to support the accumulation of foreign exchange reserves.
FX sales twice a week
Under the new framework, GoldBod will conduct FX sales twice weekly, on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Participating commercial banks will submit their requests during designated sales windows.
Where demand exceeds the available foreign exchange tranche, allocations will be made on a pro-rata basis to ensure equitable distribution among participating banks.
Transactions will be settled on the same day, with the US dollar leg expected to be completed by 3:00pm and the Ghana cedi leg by 4:00pm.
Measures to curb speculation
GoldBod said participating banks will be required to declare that their FX requests are backed by genuine unmet demand or evidence of a short position.
Banks must also comply with applicable Bank of Ghana regulations and directives.
According to GoldBod, these requirements are intended to ensure that the facility addresses genuine foreign exchange demand and is not used for speculative purposes.
Bank of Ghana to provide oversight
The programme will operate under the regulatory oversight of the Bank of Ghana.
GoldBod said the central bank will have real-time access to the GoldBod GoFX platform and will receive transaction reports after each FX sale.
The electronic platform facilitates the submission and allocation of requests while maintaining time stamps, transaction histories and audit trails.
GoldBod said these features are intended to strengthen transparency, accountability and post-trade verification.
The details were disclosed during a meeting between GoldBod and commercial banks ahead of the rollout of the new Spot FX Sales and Intermediation Framework.
The framework is expected to provide authorised commercial banks with more predictable and transparent access to US dollars through the GoldBod GoFX platform.
