The Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Marketers Association has renewed demand for removal of LPG taxes after earlier attempts proved futile.
According to Gabriel Kumi, Vice President of the LPG Marketers Association, the government must prioritize this call and immediately remove all taxes imposed.
“The taxes must go. We have been calling for this for a very very long time, but we are hoping and praying that one day somebody in the territory [government] will see the sense of these arguments we’re making.
“…So we can all grow the consumption of the LPG that we are all talking about. It also depends on what the government is going to do to stabilize the cedi.”
Gabriel Kumi
In the meantime, taxes on LPG constitute about 13 percent of the pricing. Although the price of LPG has reduced by about 7%, the Association believes complete removal of taxes will reduce the cost of LPG drastically and increase consumption of the commodity.
Mr. Kumi on this note, urged the government to do its best to stabilize the cedi and maintain it as such.
“We can’t control the price of oil products on the international market. We can’t control it, but if we are able to control our cedi or at least stabilize it, we should be able to see consistency in the prices.”
Gabriel Kumi
Prior to this, the Association called on government to redirect the dollar auction policy toward the importation and pricing of LPG in the country.
This, the Association believes will keep prices minimal. The Association added that the LPG in Ghana now sells at ¢16.00, a price that is burdensome for many individuals, households and businesses that depend on it for cooking and other activities.
Even more importantly, the Association appealed to the government to include LPG in its ‘Gold-for-Oil Programme’. The Association believes this will go a long way to help stabilize and reduce the soaring price of LPG, just as seen to have happened for petrol and diesel.
Government cautioned against reduction in consumption of LPG if taxes are not scrapped
Gabriel Kumi made a passionate outcry to government with a word of caution that if care is not taken, government’s efforts at increasing the consumption of LPG will be dashed. Explaining why he thinks including LPG in the Gold-for-Oil programme will help deal with the problem at hand, he said:
“Diesel and petrol prices are going down but unfortunately LPG prices keep escalating and that is why our association has called on government to immediately look at including LPG in the ‘Gold for Oil’ deal so that it can also bring the prices down. We believe LPG is a product government must target in this deal because, the rate at which LPG prices are going up is unbelievable and this will certainly thwart government’s efforts at increasing penetration and usage of LPG in Ghana.
“Efforts should be made to ensure that this ‘Gold for Oil’ deal, LPG is included immediately because the experts are telling us that LPG prices on the international market will keep escalating even though diesel and petrol prices are coming down. So we appeal to government to immediately include LPG in this deal so it can help stabilize prices.”
Gabriel Kumi
Gabriel Kumi assured government of the Association’s commitment to work with them to get a lasting solution to the problem.
“We are committed to working with the government to find lasting solutions to the challenges facing the LPG industry in Ghana.
“We are hopeful that the government will consider our calls to remove taxes on LPG and redirect its dollar auction policy towards LPG imports and pricing to improve the lives of Ghanaians.”
Gabriel Kumi
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