ACCRA, June 23 (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)