The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has announced plans to sell up to US$1 billion to the market and businesses in January 2026 as part of its Foreign Exchange Intermediation Programme.

The plan was contained in a wire communication to market operators sighted by JoyBusiness.

According to the central bank, the auctions will be guided by its recently approved Foreign Exchange Operations Framework.

The Bank of Ghana said the move marks the operationalisation of measures under the FX Operations Framework and will be aligned with the objectives of its reserve accumulation programme.

It added that the FX intermediation programme is expected to help dampen volatility in the foreign exchange market when the need arises, particularly under the Domestic Gold Purchase Programme.

In November, the Bank of Ghana announced that its Board had approved a new Foreign Exchange Operations Framework to clarify the objectives and principles guiding its FX operations.

According to the regulator, the framework reinforces its commitment to macroeconomic stability under the inflation-targeting regime and a flexible, market-driven exchange rate system.

The framework is designed to achieve three main objectives: support reserve accumulation to provide buffers against external vulnerabilities; reduce excessive short-term volatility in the FX market without undermining exchange-rate flexibility; and intermediate FX flows in a market-neutral manner using inflows from the Gold Purchase Programme or export surrender requirements.

This means the Bank of Ghana will channel FX inflows into the market in an orderly, transparent and non-directional manner.

The central bank added that volumes for subsequent months will be determined by prevailing market conditions.

It also reiterated its commitment to transparency, noting that it will continue to disclose all relevant information on its foreign exchange market activities, including FX intermediation.

FX Intermediation in December 2025

The Bank of Ghana disclosed that it had planned to sell up to US$800 million in December 2025 but eventually sold US$721 million under the FX Intermediation Programme.

According to the central bank, the sales were conducted in a market-neutral manner on a short-term basis through twice-weekly open auctions accessible to all licensed banks.

It stressed that there were no FX interventions in December 2025.

Background

The Bank of Ghana began its revised FX Intermediation Programme in September 2025, when JoyBusiness understands that US$1.1 billion was auctioned.

The amount increased to US$1.3 billion in October 2025.

In November 2025, the central bank announced a target of US$1 billion and sold the full amount.

For December 2025, the target was reduced to US$800 million.

The auctions continue to be conducted on a spot basis through twice-weekly, price-competitive sales open to all licensed banks.

Market watchers believe the programme contributed significantly to the cedi’s strong performance in 2025.

Cedi’s Performance in 2025

The Bank of Ghana reported that the cedi recorded a cumulative appreciation of 40.67% against the US dollar in 2025 on a year-to-date basis, reaching about GH¢10.45 to the dollar.

In December, the average daily trading volume on the interbank market stood at US$19.70 million, contributing to a total monthly volume of about US$394 million.

Attention is now shifting to the Bank of Ghana’s strategy for the first quarter of 2026, a period when the cedi typically comes under pressure as businesses demand foreign exchange to finance imports and listed companies pay dividends to foreign shareholders.