The Ghana Gold Board has changed the exchange rate used for gold purchases, shifting from the forex bureau rate to the GoldBod interbank exchange rate as part of changes to the country's gold trading system.
Chief Executive Officer of GoldBod, Sammy Gyamfi, said the institution currently purchases gold using the prevailing interbank exchange rate, less 10 pesewas.
Speaking on JoyNews' Newsfile on Saturday, August 22, Mr Gyamfi rejected suggestions that GoldBod introduced the use of forex bureau rates in determining gold purchase prices.
“It is not GoldBod that decided to buy gold at forex bureau rate,” he said.
GoldBod Trades on Its Own Books
Mr Gyamfi explained that GoldBod is now conducting gold trading on its own books, giving the institution a different framework for determining the exchange rate applied to its purchases. “We buy the gold at interbank rate minus 10 pesewas,” he said.
According to him, moving away from forex bureau rates represents a significant change in a pricing arrangement that had existed in Ghana's gold trade for decades.
“We have been able to move the exchange rate determinant of gold purchases from the forex bureau rate, which has been the case for more than a century.” - Mr Gyamfi
He argued that achieving the change within a relatively short period demonstrates the progress GoldBod has made since assuming its current responsibilities in the country's gold trading market.
Further Discount Planned
The GoldBod CEO indicated that the current 10 pesewas adjustment is not intended to remain unchanged.
He said the institution plans to move towards a percentage-based discount as its trading model develops. “Next year 2027, we are bringing a discount of two per cent,” he said.
Mr Gyamfi again stressed that GoldBod bears responsibility for the transactions it undertakes under the current arrangement. “We are running the trade on our books,” he said.
The shift in the exchange-rate mechanism is significant because movements in the cedi directly affect the local currency value offered for gold.
Using the interbank rate ties GoldBod's purchases more closely to rates within Ghana's formal banking market rather than prices quoted by forex bureaux.
The change forms part of the evolving framework under which GoldBod manages Ghana's gold trading activities, with the institution seeking to strengthen formalisation and reshape how gold purchases are priced in the domestic market.
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