Head of Pricing at the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Abass Ibrahim Tasunti says price changes at fuel stations which began on November 1 this year were due to the waiving of Price stabilization and Recovery Levy (PSRL) on petroleum products.
He said due to the removal of the levy, the sixteen pesewas on it has been removed to cushion consumers “to make us pay lesser than what we would have paid”
Ibrahim Tasunti notes that, with the deregulation of petroleum in Ghana since 2015, the government no longer has control over the determination of what the price of the product at any point in time should be.
He further notes that the deregulation policy allows marketers and importers of petroleum products to set directly, their own prices based on import parity costs, taxes, and margins.
Mr. Tasunti said petroleum products are imported into the country and that prices are based on world market figures.
“Therefore as the prices change on the world market, it reflects directly at the pumps here in Ghana,” he said
Speaking to journalists in Cape Coast Tuesday during a familiarization tour of the central region by the CEO of the NPA, Dr. Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, Mr. Tasunti indicated that, prices on the world market are rising sharply due to the opening up of economies after the COVID lockdown and the rise in natural gas prices with many switching to fuel such as petrol and diesel.
This he said is adding to the demand for petroleum products hence the rise in prices.
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“Knowing the impact this has on our economy and consumers, the NPA requested that government suspends the price subversion and recovery levy at least for a period so that consumers will not feel the full impact of these rising prices at the pumps.”
He adds that “petrol for example we have seen that, the major oil marketing companies have revised their prices to GHC 6.90 pesewas because, without the levy, we would be paying GHC 7.60 pesewas.”
The tour was to engage stakeholders in the Cape Coast Metropolis to familiarize themselves with the operations of the organization.
Source: Anthony Sasu Ayisadu/ATLFMNEWS
