Reduce petrol price now! – NPP to NDC

• Posted on December 16, 2014
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has called on government to as a matter of urgency, apply the automatic adjustment formula to reduce the prices of petroleum products.

In a press statement signed by Nana Akomea, Communications Director and made available to the media, the party told the National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration that Ghanaians deserve some relief now by immediately reducing the price of petrol in accordance with the reduction in the price of oil and the exchange rate.

“There is no doubt that the cost of living in recent times has been unbearable for the vast majority of Ghanaians, a direct result of the calamitous fall in the value of the cedi over the last three years and the very high increases in the prices of water, electricity, petrol and the rate of VAT.

“At GH¢15 a gallon of petrol in Ghana, oil was selling above $100 a barrel, and the dollar was trading at an average of GH¢3.80. Since then, oil has fallen to about $60 a barrel, and the dollar is trading at an average of GH¢3.20.

“By these price movements, petrol should be selling around GH¢13 a gallon. The current price of about GH¢17 a gallon is therefore highly extortionate and inconsiderate of the hardships Ghanaians are going through,” the statement observed.

It added that government had given an excuse that it owed the Bulk Distribution Companies for forex losses. “This is highly untenable because the forex losses are as a result of the government’s inability to maintain the value of the cedi. Ghanaians have also not been told when these supposed losses will be fully covered,” the NPP challenged.

Bloomberg on Friday reported that oil extended losses below $60 a barrel in New York, falling to a five-year low as the International Energy Agency cut its 2015 demand forecast for the fourth time in five months. Brent also dropped to the lowest in five years.

By Samuel Boadi