The Executive Secretary of the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers Ghana
(COPEC), Duncan Amoah, is charging government to spell out the
nitty-gritty of the gold-for-oil policy to Ghanaians.
He said the policy seems dead on arrival because the oil delivered
seems not to have any impact on pump prices as they keep increasing.
His call comes on the back of confirmation by the deputy Energy
Minister, Andrew Egyapa Mercer, that the initial consignment of 40,000
tons of oil brought into the country under the policy was purchased with
cash and not gold.
Despite countless claims by Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia that
the gold-for-oil policy will reduce the pressure on forex and also
present the country with cheaper fuel, fuel products have been increased
twice since Ghana took delivery of the 40,000 tons of oil.
Speaking to Citi News,
Mr. Amoah, advised government to come clean on the policy after it
turned out that it paid cash for the oil urging government to halt the
policy and concentrate on fixing the cedi.
“I think after this revelation, the ministry of energy, ministry of
finance, Bank of Ghana, government itself should come clean and tell
Ghanaians that, look we are going to use your public funds to now go
into the realm or arena of forex trading… We do think that whatever
details or the nitty-gritty of the gold-for-oil policy should be
communicated so that we all depart from this gold-for-oil mantra and
deal with the reality of the issue,” the Executive Secretary of COPEC
asserted.
He added that “they need to give details so that we can all
interrogate the issue, and not hide behind we are going to buy forex for
the local market…only for it to turn out to be a fiasco, a lie, then I
think that they have not treated all of us fairly. The gold-for-oil
policy seems dead on arrival because the cargo that was delivered seemed
not to have had any impact on pump prices. I think they should halt or
end this dangerous expedition and go back to fixing the cedi”.
He asked why the government failed to auction dollars to the Bulk Oil Distribution Companies (BDCs).
“If you tell us gold-for-oil is a shield for forex so that the BDCs’
demand for forex and the pressure it puts on the cedi goes down, and it
ends up that we rather took dollar, real cash from here to now go and
import, shouldn’t you have auctioned the dollars to the private firms to
reduce the pressure that the BDCs are facing as opposing to this
dangerous transaction?” Mr. Amoah questioned.
Speaking at this year’s New Year School, Dr Bawumia said the gold for
oil policy is the best for the country looking at the current economic
challenges.
“…Ghana took delivery of its first cargo under the gold for oil
policy. This is our test cargo, it is the cargo to test the framework if
everything that has been put in place will work, by the grace of God
the Framework will work and if that should happen we are going to save a
lot of foreign exchange and reduce the pressure on our currency.”
Source: citifmonline
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