Economist and political risk specialist Dr Theo Acheampong says GoldBod’s foreign exchange framework aims to make dollar supply more predictable, while the Bank of Ghana retains its role in tackling excessive exchange rate volatility.
The Finance Ministry’s Technical Advisor said transparency and advance planning were central to the arrangement.
Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express Business Edition on Thursday, he explained that the framework should help the market anticipate foreign exchange needs and plan supply.
“What you want is a clear and transparent process that you know in advance how much, let’s say, FX you need next week, next month, and then you can predict and provide that FX which is available.”
His comments followed a question from host George Wiafe about whether GoldBod’s involvement had the Finance Minister’s backing. The host also raised concerns about a possible overlap with the central bank’s responsibilities.
Dr Acheampong said the framework was already being implemented and that GoldBod had made its details public.
“GoldBod has communicated this very clearly to the market. The information is out there on their website.”
GoldBod announced its new Spot FX Sales and Intermediation Framework on October 5. It provides for dollar sales to authorised commercial banks, ordinarily on Tuesdays and Thursdays, through the GoFX platform.
Where demand exceeds available dollars, banks receive proportional allocations. The programme operates under the Bank of Ghana’s regulatory oversight, with the central bank granted real-time access to the platform and to transaction reports after each sale.
GoldBod subsequently reported a maiden sale of approximately $125 million to commercial banks. The sale took place on October 6 under the new arrangement.
Dr Acheampong stressed that the central bank remained responsible for responding to sharp movements in the exchange rate.
“Remember that as part of the FX framework, the central bank would step in if they see excessive volatility within the exchange rate. That is the function of a central bank.”
He said instability in the cedi would require the Bank of Ghana to act.
“So if you see the cedi being wobbly and being all over the place, what is a central bank to do? It’s meant to do its job.”