Petroleum Prices To Go Up By 15% Tomorrow

Prices of petroleum products are expected to go up by 15% on Wednesday.

Citifmonline.com sources within the oil marketing companies have attributed the impending increases to foreign exchange losses and not necessarily the increase in the prices of crude oil.

The cedi has fallen by more than 20% to other major trading currencies between January and June 2015.

This move has also been necessitated by the recently implemented full deregulation and 17.5% special petroleum tax.

This will be the third time, prices of petroleum products will be increased after the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) three year bailout programme materialised. 

Prices of petroleum products initially went up by 9% in the middle of May and increased again by 4% in the middle of June this year.

Various stakeholders, after the new prices were announced,  called on government to reduce the prices.

Government in a bid to cushion consumers subsequently started pegging retail prices of petroleum products at filling stations.

A number of the OMCs last Monday pegged the retail prices of petroleum products at filling stations at GH₡ 3.47 per litre for petrol and GH₡ 3.37 per litre for diesel.

The NPA in a statement said the development constitutes the first process towards the implementation of the petroleum product price deregulation.

Players in the importation and distribution of petroleum products earlier warned that Ghanaians will continue to pay more for petroleum products as long as the cedi continues to depreciate and the Special Petroleum Tax of 17.5 % remain intact.

Government currently owes the Bulk Oil importers about GHC 3.4 billion.

The increment in petroleum products should facilitate clearing of all debts owed Bulk Oil Distributors as a result of unpaid subsidies.

Source: citifmonline.com