Today, March 30, 2022, the Bank of Ghana is offering $100 million to dealers in a Foreign Exchange Forward Auction with a tenor of 30 days.
This is part of an effort to increase the supply of dollars in the foreign exchange (FX) market and slow the cedi’s depreciation against the dollar.
In addition to the guidelines for Bulk Oil Distributing Companies (BDCs) FX Auctions, the Central Bank stated that all authorized Foreign Exchange Dealer Banks must also follow the provisions of Ghana’s Interbank Foreign Exchange Market Code of Conduct.
The Bank of Ghana also directed banks to ensure that participation in the auction is limited to qualifying BDCs who have evidence of a valid license to operate issued by the National Petroleum Authority and are in good standing with the NPA.
The BDCs must also provide evidence of a contract indicating the volumes and costs of the products, including any premiums or discounts applied, as well as the payment due date, and that their contracts are valid for the current window, which runs from April 1st to April 15th, 2022.
They must also provide proof of sales to Oil Marketing Companies in the previous three months.
BDCs are also required to deposit all sales proceeds into an escrow account with their bidding banks during the auction window in which they participate. This will be closely scrutinized.
Banks must also pass on FX won by BDCs at the winning bid rates with no spreads.
The Bank of Ghana stated that it retains sole authority over auction allocation.
Meanwhile, authorized dealers are encouraged to submit bids for the auction in the requested format via the dedicated email [email protected] between 10.30am and 11.30am.
