Ghana’s Finance Minister, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, has labelled the widely broadcast initiative of the erstwhile NPP administration, “Gold for Oil,” as a sham, noting that the said initiative never materialized.
Dr. Forson stated that under the previous administration, there was never any actual barter of gold for petroleum products, as opposed to what the government under the NPP led Ghanaians to believe.
He made these revelations in an interview with Joynews during its PM Express on Thurday, July 24, 2025.
Dr. Forson shockingly revealed how the policy, widely credited with helping stabilise the cedi, was nothing more than a conventional cash-for-oil arrangement.
“It didn’t work properly. The Bank of Ghana were largely paying the suppliers of crude oil and petroleum products in cash. That was what they were doing. They never paid them with gold, never, never.”
Dr. Forson stated unequivocally that no such barter ever occurred in the regime of the NPP.
“Actually, someone sitting somewhere in the Emirates was supplying the Chamber Bulk Oil Distribution (CBOD). And then CBOD will be paying. They give the cedi to the BoG, and it pays the dollars. That’s it,” Dr. Forson noted.
“Pure trade. Nothing more than what they were touting. It was far from what they were touting. There was no barter where gold was going to change for oil? No, nothing of the sort happened,” he explained.
“They were keeping the gold that they were buying. The central bank was buying gold. They call it gold for reserves. There was no real barter. Nothing of the sort happened.”
“BoG buys gold and keeps the gold. It is different from buying the gold, exporting the gold, and bringing the Forex. I hear people comparing these two policies, but they are two different policies. It doesn’t mean the same,” Dr. Forson clarified.
When pressed on whether the gold could have helped reduce forex pressure indirectly, Dr. Forson doubled down.
“I’m not aware that there was a direct barter. There was no direct barter. I’m telling you for a fact, there was no barter.”
During his reading of the Mid-Year Budget Review in Parliament on Thursday, July 24, 2025, the Finance Minister explained that Ghana’s economy deteriorated extensively in the NPP regime; however, the current NDC government is committed to Ghana experiencing steady growth.
