President Akufo-Addo has expressed satisfaction with the progress of the Gold for Oil Policy so far.
Delivering the State of the Nation Address in Parliament yesterday, President Akufo-Addo said the policy, which is aimed at reviving the economy “is already bearing fruit.”
“Firstly, it will help us preserve foreign exchange, especially the US dollar, and secondly, it will enable us to stabilise the price of oil products such as petrol and diesel on the domestic market,” he noted.
He indicated that some successes have been seen on both fronts, “with the price of US dollars and petroleum products falling since we announced the policy and began to implement it.”
“The average price of petrol at the pump, which had risen to twenty (20) cedis a litre, in the middle of December 2022, is now thirteen cedis and eighty pesewas (GH¢13.80) a litre. The price of diesel had risen to more than twenty-three cedis and seventy pesewas (GH¢23.70) a litre and is now selling on the average at thirteen cedis and eighty pesewas (GH¢13.80) a litre, which is a reduction of almost ten cedis a litre.”
“We expect this trend of falling fuel prices to reflect soon in our daily lives, since transport fares affect the price of everything. I hope the trend of prices going up and coming down become a regular feature of our retail economy as is being demonstrated in the fuel prices. Because, as we all know, prices, especially of petroleum products, used only to go up in our country,” he further indicated.
The Gold for oil policy was announced by the government to help reduce the pressure on the cedi and bring in cheaper fuel.
So far about 100,000 metric tons of fuel has been brought into Ghana under the policy.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri