The NDC minority caucus in Parliament has expressed serious misgivings about one of the government’s flagship programme – the Gold-for-oil policy, noting that it is going to cause problems for the Bank of Ghana (BoG).
Deputy Minority Leader Emmanuel Kofi Armah Buah, reacting to a comment by Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia that the policy has stabilized the exchange rate and also resulted in a fall in fuel prices, noted that the policy would lead to huge debts for the central bank.
“There is nowhere in this world where we do barter trade for oil, somebody should tell me where you take your gold and then you take the oil, there is nowhere in this world. So, there is nothing like gold for oil.
“The Vice President is saying that petroleum prices are going down because of gold for oil, he is a Vice President and he wants to be President, and so I am going to be very charitable but frankly, his advisors should advise him. The reason why petroleum prices have gone down is that crude prices were over 100 dollars and it got down to 72 dollars per barrel globally, it has nothing to do with Bawumia, it has nothing to do with gold for oil. It is shocking, it is unthinkable and this must be investigated. Gold-for-oil is going to expose the Bank of Ghana to huge debt.””
Emmanuel Kofi Armah Buah
Minority Wanted Gold-For-Oil Policy To Fail
However, the Member of Parliament for Sekondi, Andrew Egyapa Mercer, also rubbished the minority’s position, saying that the Minority in Parliament and the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) wanted the government’s Gold-for-oil policy to fail.
Mr Egyapa Mercer averred that the Minority are aware that the policy would address the issue of an increase in foreign exchange which would translate into lower fuel prices. This, he said, would not be in the favour of the opposition hence their intention for the policy to fail.
“They have consistently sought for this policy to fail because if you listen to the comments of our friends from the other side on social media and mainstream media, their intent is for Ghanaians not to benefit from low pricing of petroleum products.
“That gold-for-oil policy is rather what has come in to help address the rampant increase in foreign exchange so that the Ghanaian community can have the benefit of low prices at the pump.”
Andrew Egyapa Mercer
Meanwhile, Dr Bawumia during an address, stated that the Gold-for-Oil policy that was introduced by the government has stabilized the Exchange Rate and also resulted in a decline in fuel prices.
Dr Bawumia added that the most important aspect of the policy is not just the reduction in fuel prices, but the savings in foreign exchange that the Bank of Ghana will make as a result of the lower demand for forex to import oil.
Speaking at a forum organized by the Bulk Oil Storage and Transformation (BOST) company in Accra, on Wednesday, March 15, Dr Bawumia said “I am happy to note that the Gold-for-Oil policy is the first policy of its kind in Ghana since independence to address this type of balance of payment crisis that we face. In my humble opinion, this is the most important macroeconomic policy intervention to deal with the exchange rate depreciation, fuel prices, food prices, and inflation nexus that we have had”.
“We have been mining this gold for 200 years, and they keep taking it out and it cannot work for us? It doesn’t make sense. There are people who are very disappointed that it is working but bleeding is allowed. We have an impossibility mind-set, and they can keep to it, for us all things are possible by the grace of God.”
Dr Bawumia
READ ALSO: AfDB and Partners Invest $618 Million In Nigeria’s Digital And Creative Industries
