Bawumia Announces New Policy Of Trading Gold With Imported Oil

The government is negotiating a new policy regime where the country’s gold will be used to buy oil products instead of using the US dollars from the reserves.

The barter of sustainably mined gold for oil is said to be one of the most important economic policy changes in Ghana since independence.

This new framework is expected to be fully operational by the end of the first quarter of 2023.

In a Facebook post, Vice President Bawumia was optimistic that “If we implement it as envisioned, it will fundamentally change our balance of payments and significantly reduce the persistent depreciation of our currency with its associated increases in fuel, electricity, water, transport, and food prices. This is because the exchange rate (spot or forward) will no longer directly enter the formula for the determination of fuel or utility prices since all the domestic sellers of fuel will no longer need foreign exchange to import oil products.”

He explained that the demand for foreign exchange by oil importers in the face of dwindling foreign exchange reserves results in the depreciation of the cedi and increases in the cost of living with higher prices for fuel, transportation, utilities, etc.

According to him, the barter of gold for oil which represents a major structural change will help address the challenges.

He therefore thanked the Ministers for Lands and Natural Resources, Energy, and Finance, Precious Minerals Marketing Company, The Ghana Chamber of Mines and the Governor of the Bank of Ghana for their supportive work on this new policy.