Business News of Tuesday, 19 October 2021
Source: www.ghanaweb.live
Government not responsible for fuel price increment - Energy Ministry to NDC
Energy Ministry Public Relations Officer, Kwasi Obeng-Fosu
• There's an increment in petroleum products on the market
• Some pumps are selling at GH¢6.80pesewas while others are GH¢6.40pesewas
• The Energy Ministry has noted that government has no control over the pricing of fuel prices
The Ministry of Energy has responded to claims made by the opposition National
Read full article (NDC) that the increase in fuel prices in recent times is due to the callousness of the Akufo-Addo-led government.
It would be recalled that on Monday, October 18, 2021, the NDC at a press conference accused the government of being insensitive to the plights of Ghanaians.
They further called for the immediate reduction of fuel prices for Ghanaians to heave a sigh of relief amidst the economic hardship.
Reacting to this in a press release sighted by GhanaWeb, the Ministry said, the ex-pump prices have not increased by 7%.
It indicated that Total Energies is the only oil marketing company that has revised its prices to GH¢6.80pesewas per litre.
The Energy Ministry noted that changes in prices at various pumps are not determined by the government rather, the changes of prices of petroleum products on the world market as well as the strength of the Cedi against the US Dollar are the key determinants.
It said, “The price of petroleum products on the world market is something government has no control over and it is not government that dictates the prices of fuel at the pumps in Ghana as it did before July 2015. It is worthy to note that the price of petrol on the world market in December 2016 was about $504 per metric tonne. This has increased by about 55% to around $783 per metric tonne today. If prices on the world market today were at the levels they were in December 2016, the price of petrol for example would have been about GHS5.49 per litre.”
"Contrary to the allegations levelled against the ruling government, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh led Energy Ministry says “Ex-pump prices have not increased by 7% as purported by the NDC. As of today Total Energies is the only OMC that has revised its price upwards from GH¢6.52 per litre to GH¢6.80 per litre; that is a 4.29% increase. Other OMCs are yet to announce their prices for the new window. We believe competition will even force this increase further down to a level below 3%,” part of the press statement read.
“Since the implementation of the price deregulation policy in July 2015, the responsibility of setting ex-pump prices lies with the various Bulk Import, Distribution and Export Companies (BIDECs) and Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs). As a result, changes in prices at the pumps almost every two weeks are not dictated by government but are a direct response to changes in prices of petroleum products on the world market and the strength of the Ghana Cedi (GHS) against the US Dollar (USD), as well as the keen competition amongst the various players competing to sell their products to the motoring public,” it added.
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