The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers says the current increase in fuel prices is largely due to the recent depreciation of the Ghana Cedi.
Fuel prices at the pumps of major oil marketing companies shot up from about GH¢6.28 to GH¢6.35 over the weekend, an increase that many consumers have expressed concern over.
In an interview with Citi Business News, Executive Secretary of COPEC, Duncan Amoah, said a review of the pricing policy regime might be the only option to mitigate the increase in fuel prices.
“This recent increase of about 12 pesewas per litre has seen fuel prices move from GH¢6.28 to GH¢6.35 for most oil marketing companies. Some are even doing GH¢6.38 that is a 16 pesewas variant. It is clearly a concern and a source of worry to all of us. I can confirm that it is largely a result of the depreciated Ghanaian cedi. The cedi is currently not doing too well. If you take petrol EMF on the international market for instance, per the window, it went up by 4 or 5 pesewas while Argo or diesel came down by a pesewa or two. And so grossly prices should have been stabilized as one expected. Unfortunately, the cedi is performing very poorly and, for which reason, pump prices have gone up once more.”
“This again calls into question the kind of pricing policy regime that we are using in this country. If you don’t have the cedi making you pay more for fuel, then it is world market prices making you pay more for fuel. If it is not world market price and the cedi, then it is a function normally of government making you pay more for fuel. All these three parameters have often than not worked negatively to the Ghanaian public, and it brings or reinforces our position that this whole deregulation enterprise ought to be looked at again,” he said.
This current situation comes at a time when Brent Crude oil prices on the world market as at noon on Monday, 23rd August 2021, was selling at $6.28 per barrel after dropping from over $75 per barrel at the end of July.
Source:Fiilafmonline/CitiBuss
