The Minister of Energy and Green Transition, John Abdulai Jinapor, has asserted that the government incurred losses from the gold-for-oil programme.

He stated that the programme, rolled out by the Akufo-Addo administration, lacked transparency, which led to its suspension when the NDC assumed office.

In a Facebook post sighted by GhanaWeb Business, the Minister of Energy noted that, despite the suspension of the programme, fuel prices have witnessed a downward trend in recent times.

He, however, expressed support for the idea of purchasing gold to augment the Bank of Ghana's foreign reserves.

"Let me put on record that I have always supported the purchase of gold to augment foreign reserves by the Central Bank. What I do not support, and I have stated that publicly, is the opaque gold-for-oil programme initiated by Dr. Bawumia, which clearly lacks transparency, and I have not changed my stance on that," part of his post read.

"So far, losses of over a billion have been incurred under this programme. Currently, the programme has been suspended by this government because we find it problematic. Despite the suspension of the Gold-for-Oil programme, fuel prices have gone down three times," he added.

The gold-for-oil policy was a strategic programme launched by the Akufo-Addo government.

It aimed to utilize the Bank of Ghana's Domestic Gold Purchase (DGP) programme to support the importation of petroleum products into the country.

The initiative was designed to free up foreign exchange resources and reduce pressure on the Central Bank’s foreign reserves and the banking sector.

It also sought to procure petroleum products at competitive prices through Government-to-Government arrangements.

The Bank of Ghana purchased all gold produced and exported by companies with licensed small-scale concessions, including community mines. This gold was then used to pay for oil supplies to Ghana, either through barter trade or via a broker channel.

SA/EK

Read his Facebook post below: