BDCs buy dollar at GHS 13.5 from BoG; supplied $60m in forex auction
Bulk Oil Distribution Companies (BDCs) in the country bought a dollar from the Central Bank at GHS 13.50 pesewas in a forward forex auction held by the apex bank.
Compared to the GHS 10.17 per dollar sold to BDCs in the previous forward forex auction, the GHS 13.50 pesewas to $1 reflects the continuous depreciation of the local currency which continues to have dire repercussions for the economy.
In the forward forex auction held on Thursday, October 27, the Central Bank made available, some $60m in foreign exchange to BDCs for fuel imports.
The 30-day tenor forex auction by the BoG was subscribed by 29 BDCs who through their banks submitted bids ranging from GHS 10.1 to GHS 13.50.
The forward auction by the Central Bank, is intended to minimise the uncertainty of the future availability of forex and aid price discovery especially for the general pricing window within the downstream sector.
With the exclusive forex forward auction to BDCs by the BoG, prices of imported fuel at the pumps is expected to witness some stability – that has however, not been the case.
At the moment, price of petrol and diesel at the pumps go for GHS 17.54 pesewas and GHS 19.44 pesewas respectively – a more than 100 percentage points increment since the beginning of the year.
Meanwhile, the Central Bank has set aside some $420m to be auctioned to BDCs to support their imports of fuel for the fourth quarter of 2022.
