‘Gold4Oil’ Policy Has Not Reduced Fuel Prices; Review It – Government Told

Energy strategist, Dr Yussif Sulemana, has advised the government to re-evaluate the ‘Gold4Oil’ Programme as it has not impacted the prices of petroleum products at the pumps.

According to Dr. Sulemana, the policy’s goal has not been achieved, and therefore, a review of the programme is the right path to chart.

His comments come at the back of some Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) withdrawal from the programme due to unresolved concerns.

Speaking in an interview, Dr. Sulemana said the policy champions must do the needful.

“The problem is that it’s not being able to stabilise the cedi that we want to stabilise. At best, maybe it has minimised the depreciation rate, and that’s not what we wanted”.

“We wanted to be able to step on and have control of the cedi and consequently impact at the pumps. But at this point, I think the programme hasn’t had any substantial impact on the pumps”, he opined.

According to Dr. Sulemana, it is quite unfortunate that the policy has not yielded the intended result.

“It’s quite unfortunate, and the champions of the programme will have to relook at it and look at the successes and weigh against what we are trading on”.

“Are we ready to disturb these institutions [OMCs] just to stabilise the cedi that we are not able to have a firm handle on?” he quizzed.

“At this point and in that case, I think the programme needs to be reviewed, and if it cannot be reviewed, then we have to just advise ourselves”, he added.