Fuel prices to go up again as NPA restores Price Stabilisation and Recovery Levy

• Posted on February 1, 2022February 1, 2022
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

The National Petroleum Authority, NPA, will from today, Tuesday, re-introduce the Price Stabilisation and Recovery Levy, a key component of the Fuel Price Build-Up. This means consumers should expect to pay more at the pumps.

The levy was suspended last year as part of efforts to cushion consumers from the constant rise in the price of fuel products in the country.

However, according to the Authority, it has become necessary to reintroduce the Price Stabilisation and Recovery Levies (PRL) to be able to continue subsidising Premix fuel for fisher-folks across the country.

The Head of Pricing at the NPA, Abass Ibrahim Tasunti, spoke on the latest development.

“The three months period that it has been taken off, nothing has gone into the account and we’ve been using the balance we have in the account over this period  to pay for this subsidy. As we speak, the account is dry so if we remove it forever or we continue zeroing the levy, it means that we will not have money. The continuous supply of premix oil and residual fuel will be threatened which we do not want to happen so unfortunately for the consumer, it [the levy] has to come back,” he said.

The National Petroleum Authority (NPA), in October 2021 approved the removal of the Price Stabilisation and Recovery Levies (PRSL) on petrol, diesel, and LPG for two months as requested by President Akufo-Addo.

The PSRL is 16 pesewas per liter on petrol, fourteen pesewas per litre (GHp14/Lt) on diesel and fourteen pesewas per kilogram (GHp14/Kg) on LPG.

The levy was to return earlier this month but the NPA two weeks ago extended the removal of the Price Stabilisation and Recovery Levies (PRSL) for an additional two weeks ending January 31.

Currently, some Oil Marketing Companies are already selling fuel beyond the GH¢ 7 per litre mark which means the reintroduction of the levy will send prices further above GH¢ 7 per litre.

The Institute for Energy Security (IES) has already said the prices of petroleum products are expected to increase at various pumps across the country due to an upsurge in the prices of the commodity on the international market.

Executive Director of IES, Nana Amoasi VII, says the projections made could see all the major oil marketing companies cross the 7 cedis per litre mark for diesel and petrol.

-Citi