The Ashanti Regional Chairman for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr. Bernard Antwi-Boasikao has taken a swipe at Prof. Steve Hanke for rubbishing plans by the government of Ghana to use gold to purchase oil in the future.
Mr. Bernard Antwi-Boasiako popularly known as Chairman Wontumi told Wontumionline.com that the plan is a laudable one noting that a reason fuel prices increased astronomically in Ghana within 2022, was because the cedi depreciated by over 50%.
Steve H. Hanke, has described as “bogus” government’s announcement of a new policy of buying oil products with gold rather than U.S. dollars.
But Chairman Wontumi explained that using gold to buy oil will change Ghana’s balance of payment and stall the free fall of the cedi.
He therefore maintained that the plan was not a bogus one as stated by Prof. Hanke.
“Prof. Hanke is an empty barrel making the most noise from outside Ghana. Ghana doesn’t need his noise; we are focused on achieving our aim as government and the gold for oil plan is not a bogus one”, Chairman Wontumi said.
The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has hinted at a policy to use gold to make purchases of oil on the commodity market.
Speaking at the AGI Awards night in Accra, Dr. Bawumia said this barter of sustainably mined gold for oil is key in addressing the economic crisis confronting the country.
“To address this fundamental challenge that we all face of depreciation and its impact on fuel and utility prices and food and so on, the government has opted to implement a policy of using our gold to buy oil products,” Dr. Bawumia said.
“If we implement it as we have envisioned, it will fundamentally change our balance of payment and significantly reduce the persistent deprecation of our currency,” he added.
Large-scale mining companies have been directed by government to sell 20 percent of all refined gold to the Bank of Ghana.