The gold-for-oil policy of the government has been deemed dubious by the National Democratic Congress (NDC), which represents the opposition.
The government is attempting to reduce its reliance on the US dollar as the primary medium of exchange for international transactions through the gold for oil initiative.
The government is extremely optimistic that the Gold-for-Oil policy will continue to achieve positive results, according to Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, who stated that the government was optimistic.
Dr. Bawumia stated that the policy was already resulting in stability in the exchange rate as well as the price of fuel.
At a forum held in Accra on March 15 by the Bulk Oil Storage and Transformation (BOST) company, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia made the following statement:
“The most important aspect of the gold-for-oil policy is not just the reduction in fuel prices. The most important aspect is the savings in foreign exchange that the Bank of Ghana will make as a result of the lower demand for forex to import oil.”
That is a significant savings. Under the terms of this policy, we are currently importing somewhere between 50 and 60 percent of the oil we use; however, the objective is to eventually reach 100 percent, which will be accomplished this year.
Dr. Bawumia continued by saying, “We have to realize that the price of fuel will go up and down, but what we anticipate seeing as a result of the Gold-for-Oil policy is more stability in the pricing as well as savings in foreign exchange.”
“There is more to come; this is the third month of operation of the policy; some people said it would not work, and Ghana does not have enough gold,” he said.
“There is more to come.” How could you possibly say that? We have been extracting gold from this vein for the past two centuries, but they keep taking it away, and it does not work for us.
On the other hand, the National Chairman of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has referred to the transaction as a scandal in which the Vice President is involved.
In addition to this accusation, he stated that the Vice President was complicit in the “PDS Scandal,” the “Stone Rice Scandal,” and the “Famous Appearance Fee Scandal.”
On Monday, March 20, he made these remarks while responding to the State of the Nation Address that had been given the previous week by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at the University of Professional Studies in Accra (UPSA) auditorium.
Asiedu Nketiah was responding to the speech that had been given by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
According to Johnson Asiedu Nketia, the National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus resulted in the government receiving a sum of thirty billion Ghana cedis (GHS).
On the other hand, Mr. Asiedu Nketia claimed that the funds were frittered away by the government on election-related spending.
On Monday, March 20, an address was given at the auditorium of the University of Professional Studies in Accra (UPSA).
The topic of the address was “Covid-19 brought the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia governments a windfall of approximately GHS 30 billion to manage and mitigate the impact of the pandemic.”
Unfortunately, this was thrown away on the costs associated with the election.
Asiedu Nketiah emphasized the fact that COVID-19 ended up becoming a “corruption bonanza and a milking cow.”
In addition, he asserted that the government was not being truthful to the people of Ghana.
Asiedu Nketiah stated that the President had given him the assurance that there would not be any reductions in investment, but Ghanaians are seeing it happen anyway.
In addition, he claimed that the government had repeatedly assured the populace that it would not seek assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), despite the fact that it is currently negotiating a deal with Fujd.
According to him, each and every one of these reeks of dishonesty.