Executive Secretary of Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC), Duncan Amoah, has advised relevant authorities to take effective measures to address the imminent fuel price increase in the country as international market price surges.
According to him, as global crude oil prices continuous increase could potentially lead to an increase of 16 pesewas in fuel prices at the pumps due to the “price taker” inclinations of the country. He further noted that, although some increment have already been recorded, it has not been effected as yet.
“If the dynamics continue to persist, it could cross the 60 dollar region in no time and that is where we expect policymakers to start thinking about its impact on the Ghanaian consumer. Because, as a price taker, anytime international market prices go up Ghanaians are affected, and soon these spikes you’re seeing on the international market will reflect at the Ghanaian pumps not because the government has increased taxes but simply because we are price takers who will take anything that the global pricing system throws at us.
“We have already recorded increments over the last few weeks. What we also pick from the oil marketing companies is that we are going to be seeing anything between 10 and 16 pesewas increases for both petrol and diesel. Those increases should have taken effect last week, but we are still waiting to see when that will finally come through. But, if you look at computations most of them have done, you’re not looking at anything less than 10 to 16 pesewas add-on on current market averages”.
The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) had earlier appealed to government to introduce measures to stop the increase in fuel prices.
Contained in a statement, it opined that, fuel prices that averaged Ghc 4.670/litre barely a month ago at the pumps is currently selling at an average of Ghc 5.10/litre at some pumps, representing a marginal variance of 43p/litre or 9%.
Although, it explained these increases as marginal, it cannot be “directly attributed to a deliberate governmental action, as the triggers for these increases have been largely attributable to international market price increases and the cedi’s depreciation”.
That notwithstanding, COPEC were of the opinion that government still have a responsibility to the Ghanaian people to put in measures to forestall these harsh increases as it affects every facet of our national lives and the economy as a whole.
“Outlook for the first quarter of the year certainly looks tough as prices are expected to continue rising. We at COPEC had preempted this as far back as October 2020 and called for decisive national planning, action and policies from our authorities in ensuring these expected increases of prices on the international market is planned for using strategic state entities like TOR and BOST to ensure there’s adequate stock to manage, during these periods of sustained increases. But the heat of our elections didn’t possibly allow for effective planning as we are currently left with little options than to pass on these increases at the pumps though the economic effects of Covid-19 continue to remain dire on Ghanaians”.
