Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson has debunked widespread claims that the previous government’s “Gold for Oil” programme was a true barter arrangement, revealing that no gold was ever exchanged directly for petroleum products.
Dr. Forson stated bluntly: “It didn’t work properly. 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 by the previous administration in late 2022, was widely promoted as a strategic barter scheme to alleviate pressure on Ghana’s foreign exchange reserves by utilizing domestically mined gold to secure oil.
However, Dr. Forson described the programme as a conventional trade arrangement that involved no actual gold-for-oil transactions.
According to him, the actual mechanism relied on intermediaries who supplied petroleum products, while the Bank of Ghana settled the payments in U.S. dollars after receiving cedi payments from the Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors (CBOD).
“Someone sitting somewhere in the Emirates was supplying CBOD. CBOD pays the Bank of Ghana in cedis, and the Bank pays the dollar equivalent. That’s it, pure trade,” he explained.
Dr. Forson said his information was based on direct verification with the Bank of Ghana. “Oh yes, I asked. They were keeping some gold, and their gold reserves increased. That’s a fact. But that was part of their gold-for-reserves strategy and not a barter system for oil.”
He cautioned against conflating two distinct policies: the Bank of Ghana’s gold reserve accumulation initiative and the “Gold for Oil” programme. “BoG buys and stores gold to shore up reserves. That is different from exporting gold and using the proceeds to buy oil. They are not the same thing,” he emphasised.
When asked whether the increased gold reserves may have indirectly helped stabilise the cedi, Dr. Forson reiterated his position: “I’m not aware of any direct barter. I’m telling you for a fact, there was no barter.”
The “Gold for Oil” programme was initially introduced as a bold alternative to foreign exchange-intensive fuel imports, but doubts about its structure and impact persisted.
Dr. Forson’s remarks follow his presentation of the 2025 Mid-Year Budget Review to Parliament on Thursday, where he reaffirmed the Mahama administration’s commitment to fiscal discipline and policy transparency.
