The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) says fuel prices at the pump may hit GH¢7 a litre if the government does not put measures in place to cushion Ghanaians.
Speaking to Citi Business News, Executive Secretary of COPEC, Duncan Amoah stated that, “Fuel is now threatening to get to almost GH7 a litre. Currently, some major firms are trading at over GH¢6.50 and so any other increases that may come in subsequent days or weeks may push the price per litre to GH¢7. That is woeful.”
He further added that the government must review the price build-up of petroleum products to ease the impact of the constant hikes on Ghanaians.
“The government projection for 2021 is $57.8 per barrel for our crude exports. Crude has hit above 80 as we speak. So in the plus and minus game, the government is even making far more than it had projected within its budget.”
“Yet the taxes that we enforced on the trotro driver at 46pesewas when crude was 30 dollars, we are still collecting it today when crude has gone up by more than an additional 50 dollars. This is bad and the earlier finance minister and authorities decide to sit and look at the tax structure on our fuel prices, the better it will be for all of us.”
Oil price on the international market is over 80 dollars a barrel, after starting the year at a little over the 50-dollar mark.
But with the reopening of economies across the globe due to the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines, demand for fuel has experienced a shape climb.
Already, a Multinational investment bank and financial services company, Goldman Sachs Group, is projecting global prices may hit 90 dollars a barrel in the coming months as the winter approaches.
Earlier in the year, the government as part of its revenue mobilization drive introduced some levies and taxes in the 2021 budget, a move many criticized.
The taxes are the COVID-19 Health Recovery Levy Act, 2021 (Act 1068), Financial Sector Recovery Levy Act, 2021 (Act 1067) and the Energy Sector Levy (Amendment) Act, 2021 (Act 1064).
These taxes coupled with the constant hike in oil prices on the global market have accounted for the increase in prices at the pumps.
