The Central Bank of Ghana (BOG) has been urged not to put a stop to its regular foreign exchange reports given to Bulk Oil Distribution Companies (BDCs).
In an interview, Duncan Amoah, the Executive Secretary of the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC), advised BOG to continuously release reports of the exact amount of foreign exchange (Forex), specifically the United States dollars, to assist BDCs in the importation of their petroleum products for local consumption at a relatively lower price.
He also took the opportunity to plead with government to put measures in place to initiate operations of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) which has been Idle for some time. This could help refine crude oil for the local market at a low cost.
“We entreat the Bank of Ghana not to make this intervention a nine-day wonder but to step up efforts to guarantee the needed forex to, particularly, the petroleum importation market.
“We are also reminding our leaders on the urgent need to fix and operationalise the currently idle Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), to contribute its quota to the much needed fuel security in the country while ensuring stability of the cedi.”
Duncan Amoah
This followed after the release of the amount of forex demanded by the BDCs to import the products. BOG’s release of the forex amount to BDCs brought a positive impact on the prices of petroleum products at the pumps in the country, in the last pricing window which began from Monday.
BDCs Forex Forward Rates Auction results held on November 11, and published by the BoG indicated that, the bank released $60 million to the players at a forward rate of $13.3138 to satisfy the 24 bidders.
He encouraged a rethink of the strategic role originally assigned to the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation ( BOST ) in holding strategic stocks.
According to Duncan Amoah, at the beginning of this week, the reduction in the price of petroleum products such as petrol and diesel at the pumps, has been well received by the motoring public because of the positive impact on their disposable income.
He further stated that, despite the fact that the reduction was just a marginal percentage, it indicated a step in the right direction.
Second Pricing Window for Crude, Petrol, Diesel and LPG
According to him, the intervention of BOG has been a positive effect and as such, there has been a steady decline in forward rate increases on petroleum pricing during second pricing window for this month.
He indicated that, Crude price benchmarks recorded an increase relatively between $4-$5 per barrel, from $91.86 per barrel to $96.26 per barrel while prices of petrol and diesel have both seen relative stability and decline respectively.
Also, the international benchmarks saw a slight increase in price by less than $6 per metric tonne from $963.43 to $969.08, with a relative stability and availability of the forex to the petroleum importation market.
This pushed retail prices downwards to GHC16.07 per litre on average from averages of GHC17.42 per litre.
For Diesel prices, the international price benchmarks saw a decline by $123 per metric tonne from $1,220.82 per metric tonne to $1,097.35. The expected retail price in the market, therefore, averagely witnessed a decline from about GHC23.43 per litre to averages of GHC20.25 per litre.
He stated on the reverse that, the international benchmarks for Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) saw an increase of about $32 from $598.27 to $630.56. The phenomenon led to an increase in retail price from averages of GHC12.10 per kilogram to about of GHC13.51 per kilogram as the prevailing retail price at the pumps.
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