The former Chief Executive of the National Petroleum Authority, Alex Mould, has expressed that the government’s gold for oil policy is not needed.The Gold-for-oil policy is has been deemed unnecessary by him.
The former Chief Executive Officer of the GNPC argues that the argument put forth by the government, that exchanging Ghana’s gold for oil would help with the country’s balance of payment and currency depreciation problems, is flawed.
“The gold for oil policy is quite an unnecessary one,” he is quoted by asaasenews.com.
Mr. Mould believes that bartering gold for petroleum products will not affect the price of fuel being purchased or the price of gold being sold, as both products will still be sold at the same price.
The government’s gold for oil policy has received significant criticism, particularly after it was discovered that cash was used to purchase the first shipment.
Despite receiving a shipment of 40,000 metric tonnes of oil in January, fuel prices in 2023 have already increased twice. Mould’s perspective adds to the growing discontent with the policy.
He said, “So, the whole argument that if [the] government buys gold and barters it for petroleum products, there’ll be less pressure on foreign exchange is flawed.
According to former National Petroleum Authority CEO Alex Mould, the government’s gold-for-oil policy is unnecessary.
“Government going for barter is not going to reduce the price of petrol we are buying, or increase the price we get from the sale of gold. It’s going to be the same price with selling our gold, and the same price we’re buying our products,” Mould added.
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Mould states that the idea that exchanging gold for oil will ease the country’s balance of payment issues and curb the rapid depreciation of the cedi is flawed. He further explains that bartering gold for petroleum products will not impact the prices of either product, as fuel prices will remain unchanged and the price of gold will still be the same.