The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has disclosed that the government’s Gold for Oil policy is progressing as planned.
The First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Maxwell Opoku-Afari, said this when he appeared before the Public Accounts Committee on August 12, 2024.
“The gold for oil programme is on track and the reason why the risk for the separate account is mitigated somehow is that the Central Bank’s participation in terms of financial contribution to the gold for oil is capped and nothing more is being added to that.
“So it is the receivables that are coming from within that cap amount that has been used to continue to finance the gold for oil programme.”
The policy was launched by the government to address Ghana’s depleting foreign currency reserves and the high demand for dollars by oil importers, which was exerting downward pressure on the Cedi and driving up living costs.
The policy, as explained by the government, is to allow the government to pay for imported oil products with gold, in a direct barter with gold purchased by the Central Bank.
It was introduced to help stabilise prices of fuel products, as well as reduce pressure on Ghana’s foreign exchange, as the direct gold barter would be the mode of paying for imported oil instead of depleting the foreign exchange reserve.
According to the government’s G40 Programme Framework dated February 3, 2023, payment for the oil supply is done in two channels; barter trade or via forex obtained from selling gold to a broker.
Under the Barter Channel, suppliers willing to take gold in direct exchange for petroleum products will be provided with the equivalent volume of gold by the Bank of Ghana (BoG).
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
