We have enough gold to exchange for oil – Dep. Energy Minister
Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, Deputy Energy Minister, says the government is ready to implement its gold-for-oil barter agreement.
According to him, the country has enough gold in reserve to exchange for oil in order to lower the country’s current skyrocketing fuel prices. On Sunday, he made this revelation while participating in a discussion on JoyNews’ The Probe.
“Gold mobilisation and gold purchases are everyday activities. And so we have looked at the market and the Bank of Ghana is already buying gold and they are able to do 50,000 ounces of gold a month. The Precious Mining Company (PMC) also purchase gold from small-scale miners and they are able to buy 160,000 ounces every month. And what we need is 205,000 a month.
“And so if you look at our oil bill vis-à-vis the worth of the gold we are able to mobilize monthly, there is no doubt that we’ll be able to get the required gold to exchange for the requirement of our petroleum products and so we are very confident that this is a policy we can implement without difficulties,” he explained.
The government announced on Thursday that it is negotiating a gold-for-oil barter deal to supplement the country’s “dwindling foreign exchange reserves” in order to purchase oil products.
Many have questioned whether necessary consultations have taken place since Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia announced this. In response, Dr. Adam said that the government had engaged all relevant stakeholders prior to the announcement of this new policy.
He emphasised that the government was confident in implementing the policy because of the positive feedback.
“We have been engaging the Bank of Ghana and we also have been talking to oil suppliers. Those who have been supplying petroleum products to our country. We also have been engaging gold refiners and brokers.
“And so extensive discussions and engagements have taken place over the last one month and this is why at this point we can implement that policy, hence, the announcement,” he noted.
Source: Energy Ghana
