The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) has described government’s decision to reduce margin price build-up of petroleum products by a total of 15 pesewas per litre as insensitive and disappointing.
Reacting to the development after the Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta announced a raft of measures to cushion Ghanaians against the impact of the rising price of petroleum products at the pump, executive director of COPEC, Duncan Amoah described the development as unfortunate.
“A total of 15 pesewas reduction in the crazy fuel price levels is to say the least very unfortunate and insensitive… Margins have been reduced but he’s holding on to all his taxes?? woooowww,” he posted on Facebook.
“I am afraid but this finance [minister] is completely detached from the harsh realities of the people1.5 percent reduction in fuel prices that have jumped to above 10 cedis per litre?? This is very disappointing.”
“You threw away 25 billion in a banking sector clean up yet cannot give Ghanaians only 2 billion in petroleum reliefs,” he added.
Petrol to go down by 1.6%, diesel by 1.4% on 1 April
The government has reduced the margin price build-up of petroleum products by a total of 15 pesewas per litre with effect from 1 April 2022, Ken Ofori-Atta, the Minister for Finance, has said.
The measure will run for the next three months.
Addressing the country on steps being taken to curb Ghana’s economic challenges, Ofori-Atta said, “To mitigate the impact of the rising price of petroleum products at the pump, for the next three months, government has decided to reduce margins in the petroleum price build-up by a total of 15 pesewas per litre with effect from 1 April.”
Ofori-Atta said the reductions in margins are expected to reduce the price of petrol by 1.6% and that of diesel by 1.4%.
“We anticipate that the measures taken to strengthen the currency will help further stabilise the prices at the pump,” he added.
He said the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) is in discussion with the oil marketing companies (OMCs) to reduce their margins, in the spirit of burden-sharing.
“The government will do all it can to ensure consistent supply of fuel and manage the rate of ex-pump price increase by ensuring that BoG [the Bank of Ghana] has access to adequate foreign exchange,” Ofori-Atta said.
Other measures:
1- BOST margin down by 2 pesewas per litre
2- Unified Petroleum Pricing Fund (UPPF) margin down by 9 pesewas per litre
3- Fuel Marking Margin (FMM) down by 1 pesewa per litre
4- Primary Distribution Margin (PDM) down by 3 pesewas per litre
