Gold for oil: We’re not confiscating jewellery, says PMMC boss

The managing director of Precious Mineral Marketing Company (PMMC) Nana Kwasi Awuah says there is enough gold in the country to sustain the gold for oil policy.
The Precious Mineral Marketing Company (PMMC) has refuted claims suggesting that it is confiscating jewellery of individuals as part of the gold for oil policy.
The policy is designed to allow the government to pay for imported petroleum products with gold in direct barter arrangements, using gold purchased by the Bank of Ghana.
The policy aims to help stabilise prices of fuel products, as well as reduce pressure on Ghana’s foreign exchange, because direct gold barters will be the modus for paying for imported oil, which will help guard against depleting the country’s foreign exchange reserves.
Appearing on the Asaase Breakfast Show on Thursday (23 March), the MD of PMMC Nana Kwasi Awuah said the arrest of persons smuggling gold from the country through the airport has been misconstrued.
There is more than enough gold produced in this country to meet and sustain the gold for oil policy, it is not necessary to confiscate people’s private jewellery.
Even long before the announcement of the gold for oil policy, certain people have been finding very mischievous ways of disguising gold dowry as jewellery and then smuggling it out of the country, he said.
So, the security agencies at our various points of entry and exit have always been conducting these operations to identify persons who are carrying unexplained quantity of gold disguised as jewellery, Awuah said
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