President Nana Akufo-Addo has given go ahead to the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) to exempt consumers of petrol, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from paying levies on the three products.
The move will see consumers pay zero levies on the products for a two month period, and is to mitigate the impact of rising prices of petroleum products on the world market on Ghanaians, NPA said in a statement.
The Price Stabilisation and Recovery Levy (PSRL) under which consumers currently pay 16 pesewas per liter (GHp16/Lt) on petrol, 14 pesewas per litre (GHp14/Lt) on diesel, and 14 pesewas per kilogram (GHp14/Kg) on LPG as levies, seeks to stabilise prices for consumers and pay for the subsidies on Premix Fuel and Residual Fuel Oil (RFO).
“The National Petroleum Authority wishes to inform the general public that His Excellency the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has granted approval to zero the Price Stabilisation and Recovery Levies on petrol, diesel and LPG for a period of two months,,” the statement said.
The approval , the statement added, follows the advice of the NPA to the Minister of Energy to seek government’s intervention to mitigate the impact of rising prices of petroleum products on the world market on consumers.
Prices of crude oil and refined petroleum products have seen sharp increases on the world market due to a rise in demand of oil globally without a corresponding increase in supply, particularly from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies.
“Because pricing of petroleum products in Ghana is deregulated, changes in prices of petroleum products on the world market have a direct impact on prices at the pumps. The outlook of prices on the global market shows an upward trend and therefore there was the need to seek government’s intervention to lower the levies to cushion consumers from feeling the full impact of these rising prices,” NPA explained.
The Authority would now have to work with the Ministries of Energy and Finance to quicken the legislative processes to give immediate effect to the directive by the President.
