By: Reuters

Ghana’s Gold Board (GoldBod) is aligning its gold pricing regime with internationally recognised LBMA benchmarks from July 1 while imposing strict caps on purchase prices to tighten market discipline and curb irregular trading, it said in two statements on Tuesday.

Ghana, Africa’s top gold producer, set up GoldBod in 2025 to centralise bullion trading, part of efforts to sanitise its booming artisanal sector.

Artisanal output has surged, boosting economic recovery, but the central bank posted a 15.6 billion cedi ($1.4 billion) loss in 2025, driven by monetary tightening and reserve build-up, including costs tied to GoldBod-linked gold purchases.

From July 1, GoldBod will implement a new official pricing regime anchored on LBMA gold price benchmarks, according to one notice. GoldBod will publish two daily purchase prices — at 1030 GMT based on the LBMA AM fix and at 1500 GMT based on the LBMA PM fix — with local currency prices derived using the Bank of Ghana reference rate.

The board will discontinue continuously updated live prices and require all licensed buyers, aggregators and traders to transact strictly at official prices, the notice said.

Separately, GoldBod said new rules that took immediate effect require buyers to pay not more than its published price at the time of purchase, warning that breaches will attract sanctions.

($1 = 11.1500 Ghanaian cedi)

(Reporting by Emmanuel Bruce; Editing by Maxwell Akalaare Adombila)