The government says the gold-for-oil policy contributed to a reduction in the country’s inflation rate from 54.1 percent to 23.5 percent in January 2023.
The policy was introduced by the government in an attempt to address Ghana’s dwindling foreign currency reserves, coupled with the demand for dollars by oil importers, which was weakening the local cedi and increasing living costs.
In initiating the motion for the commencement of debate on the 2024 State of the Nation address by President Akufo-Addo, the Minister of State Designate for the Finance Ministry, Abena Osei-Asare, touted the successes of the intervention.
“Mr. Speaker, this gold-for-oil programme improved the strength of the Cedi, and we all saw how the Cedi depreciated against major currencies in November 2022. It went as high as 54 percent to the Dollar and Mr. Speaker, due to this programme, we have seen the Cedi gain some strength and as we speak, from February 2023 to December 2023, the Cedi depreciated by just 9 percent.
“Coupled with the improvement in the strength of the Cedi and inflation with our debt and fiscal sustainability programme, we saw our growth numbers going up.”