 would benefit from sustaining the Gold-for-Oil policy but is reluctant to embrace it after strongly criticising the initiative while in opposition.){kind=link}
Energy analyst Kwadwo Poku says the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) would benefit from sustaining the Gold-for-Oil policy but is reluctant to embrace it after strongly criticising the initiative while in opposition.
The policy, introduced by the former New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration in late 2022, was designed to stabilise the cedi and ease pressure on fuel prices by using Ghana’s gold reserves to secure petroleum imports.
Mr. Poku further said Ghana spends over $400 million every month on fuel imports, a demand that continues to weigh heavily on the Bank of Ghana’s foreign exchange reserves.
He argued that despite the political backlash it received, the Gold-for-Oil arrangement presented a viable option for tackling the country’s persistent currency and fuel market challenges.
“The previous government came up with good solutions. A ruling party now, the NDC, bastardized that idea. As we speak, they wish they can do Gold-for-Oil, but they can’t because they bastardized it,” he noted.
Mr. Poku urged the government to put politics aside and reconsider the policy, even if it means admitting past mistakes.
“There is nothing wrong with saying I got it wrong and going back to what was done before to get it right,” he said.
He further warned that the current strategy for managing the cedi was unsustainable and “will come back to bite them.”