The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has sold $20 million to Bulk Oil Distribution Companies (BDCs) in a forward auction that will be settled in 30 days. The auction was held on May 14 and saw 9 BDCs put in bids ranging from 12.00 to 13.00 with the auction being settled at 12.5027 cedis per US dollar.

The auction results show a 14% cedi appreciation from the last auction on April 29 where $20 million was sold at 14.2877. Buoyed by the strong cedi and weak global oil prices, fuel prices at the pump have trended downwards. This augurs well for the central bank’s end-year inflation target of 12%. The latest print for April had inflation at 21.2%, an 8-month low.

Ghana imports about $300 million worth of fuel each month, and the twice-monthly BoG auctions provide a total of $40 million with the rest sourced from the open market.