The Vice President of the Republic, H.E Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has disclosed that the gold-
for-oil programme will save Ghana $4.8 billion per annum, when he addressed a gathering at the inauguration of ultramodern new head office for the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation
Company Limited (BOST) in Accra, on Wednesday March 15, 2023.
“The savings in foreign exchange, when we do this, will be an annual savings of $4.8 billion
every year and that means the oil importing companies will not be going to the bank of Ghana looking for $4.8 billion to buy oil”, he said.
Dr. Bawumia added that, there is an expected decline in fuel prices at the pump in the coming
days due to the gold-for-oil barter programme. He said, “I am happy to note that the policy is the first of its kind in Ghana, since independence, to address the balance of payment crisis that we face”.
He further added that, “In my humble opinion, it is the most important macro-economic policy intervention to deal with the exchange rate depreciation, fuel price, and food price issues that we have had”. “we have not only seen a decline in prices of fuel from GHS23.00 per litre to around GHS12, but we have also seen stability in the exchange rate”.
The gold-for-oil barter programme is geared towards the reduction in fuel prices and the
reduction of pressure on the Ghana cedi, to improve the living standards of the citizenry. 100,000 metric tons of oil have so far been delivered to the shores of Ghana.
The Institute for Energy Security’s (IES) projections indicates the fall of prices of petrol, diesel
and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG). The price of fuel is expected to fall between 3% and 10%
from March 16, 2023. The projected domestic fuel market prices are GHS13.40 for diesel,
GHS12.60 for petrol and GHS14 per Kilogramme for LPG.
