Dr. Muhammed Amin Adam, Deputy Minister for Energy in-charge of Petroleum, has emphasised that Ghana had enough gold to exchange for oil towards the government’s Ghana Gold For Oil barter deal.
According to him, the deal was a policy the government could implement without difficulty, as about 80% of companies in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Asia, Europe and government to government had been engaged and ready to accept the deal.
Speaking on JoyNews via zoom on Sunday night during the programme dubbed: “The Probe” hosted by Emefa Apawu, the Minister stated that the government was in a hurry and eager to lessen the burden of the citizenry, and for that matter working hard and faster to ensure that the Gold for Oil policy by March 2023.
He disclosed that the Bank of Ghana, oil suppliers, gold brokers and other stakeholders in the industry had been engaged to address the challenges within the petroleum industry.
Asked why the announcement by the Vice President, Dr. Bawumia, was made on social media through Facebook and not in the 2023 Budget read by the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, the Minister was of the view that the government could use any means to talk to Ghanaians, and added that such an avenue was convenient, as the government had been discussing the deal behind the scenes and going to have further engagement with stakeholders.
He noted that Ghanaians wanted petroleum prices to go down as proposed by the Gold For Oil policy, hence, the companies must understand the need for the better deal.
He underscored that the policy would help reduce the high cost of petroleum products and for that matter, would also reduce the demand for dollars to import petroleum products.
