Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), Sammy Gyamfi, says the state gold trading institution has changed the exchange-rate mechanism used to price gold purchases, moving away from the forex bureau rate to the interbank rate.

Speaking on Newsfile on JoyNews on Saturday, August 22, Mr Gyamfi said GoldBod did not introduce the use of the forex bureau rate for gold purchases and argued that the institution has instead made a significant change to the pricing mechanism within a relatively short period.

“It is not GoldBod that decided to buy gold at forex bureau rate,” he said.

According to him, GoldBod is currently conducting gold trading on its own books and purchases gold using the interbank exchange rate, less a small adjustment.

“We buy the gold, at interbank rate minus 10 pesewas,” he said.

Mr Gyamfi said the change represents a major departure from the exchange-rate mechanism that had traditionally been used in Ghana's gold purchasing system.

He said the forex bureau rate had served as the basis for determining the exchange rate applied to gold purchases for more than a century.

However, he said GoldBod had succeeded in moving the mechanism to the interbank rate within one year of taking over its current trading responsibilities.

“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,” he said.

The GoldBod CEO described the change as a significant development in the country's gold trading framework, arguing that the institution had achieved it within a relatively short period.

Mr Gyamfi said GoldBod currently applies a 10-pesewa reduction to the interbank exchange rate when purchasing gold.

He indicated that the policy is not static and that GoldBod intends to introduce a larger discount.

“Next year 2026, we are bringing a discount of two per cent,” he said.

Mr Gyamfi also stressed that GoldBod is currently conducting the trade on its own books.

“We are running the trade on our books,” he said.