Forensic Chartered Accountant, Awuni Akyerebah has bemoaned government to sell the gold available in the country to purchase the oil needed.
According to him, it would be appropriate if the government sells the gold and purchase the oil with the profit earned than engaging in a barter system.
“When we have gold and we want to sell it for oil,
the one selling the oil in the market is selling it for dollars so we have to sell our gold for oil because, between oil and gold, gold sells at a faster rate than the oil in the market, so why don’t we sell our gold get the money and buy the oil” he said.
“This is transparency because we know the amount of gold we are sending to the market we know the price so no one can cheat, we wouldn’t have any deal with a gold broker because we will sell our gold, take our foreign reserves buy our oil, come and distribute” he added.
Speaking in an interview with Kwabena Don Prah on Hapoyfm’s Epa Hoa Daben show, Mr Akyerebah believes the government’s gold for oil deal is not transparent.
“The scheme is not understandable. It’s only about corruption, anyhow you examine it, it all boils down to corruption” he opined.
The Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia is confident that the gold for oil policy will reduce the pressure on forex and also present the country with cheaper fuel.
Reacting to this claim the accountant feels the transaction is rather worsening the economic situation in the country.
“Ever since they brought the oil our currency has depreciated, utility prices have increased to 30% electricity and foreign exchange has decreased so the benefit he said we would receive is not true” he mentioned.
The government took delivery of 40,000 metric tons of the first consignment of the gold for oil deal on Monday.
The move by the government is meant to tackle dwindling foreign currency reserves coupled with the demand for dollars by oil importers, which is weakening the local cedi and increasing living costs
The arrival of the fuel from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is expected to push prices of fuel further down after the recent reduction at the
By: Miriam Akuetteh
