Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson has debunked claims that the much-touted “Gold for Oil” initiative introduced by the previous administration was a true barter arrangement involving the direct exchange of gold for petroleum products.
Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express, Dr. Forson revealed that contrary to public belief, the policy never involved any actual trading of gold for oil. Instead, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) was making cash payments for petroleum imports under a typical trade arrangement.
“It didn’t work properly,” Dr. Forson said. “The Bank of Ghana was largely paying suppliers of crude oil and petroleum products in cash. They never paid them with gold never, never.”
The policy, introduced as a measure to ease pressure on Ghana’s foreign exchange reserves and stabilise the cedi, was hailed as an innovative non-cash mechanism to address fuel import challenges. However, Dr. Forson described it as misleading and far from what was publicly projected.
Explaining the process, he noted, “Someone sitting in the Emirates was supplying products to the Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors (CBOD), and CBOD would pay the Bank of Ghana in cedis, and the BoG would then pay the suppliers in dollars. That’s it—just conventional trade. There was no barter where gold was exchanged for oil.”
When asked whether he had verified this with the central bank, the minister confirmed he had. “Yes, I asked. The BoG was buying gold and increasing its reserves. But that’s a completely different policy—they were accumulating gold under the gold-for-reserves programme, not bartering it for oil.”
Dr. Forson also criticised efforts to conflate the gold reserve programme with the purported gold-for-oil policy. “BoG buys and keeps the gold. That’s separate from exporting gold to earn foreign exchange. These are two distinct policies, and we shouldn’t confuse them.”
Pressed further on whether the accumulation of gold might have indirectly eased forex pressures, he stood firm. “I’m not aware that there was any barter. I’m telling you for a fact—there was no barter.”
Dr. Forson’s highlighted these comments during his presentation of the 2025 Mid-Year Budget Review to Parliament, where he emphasised the importance of transparency and accuracy in reporting key government programmes.
His remarks cast fresh doubt on one of the previous administration’s signature policies, raising broader concerns about policy communication and credibility in the management of Ghana’s energy and economic sectors.