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General Secretary of the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU), Mr Solomon Kotei says government must urgently restore subsidies on petroleum products and utilities. He wants revenue from oil to be used for the subsidies since, according to him, that is a profitable way all Ghanaians can enjoy the benefit of oil exploitation. Speaking to The Finder in an exclusive interview, Mr Kotei said using oil revenue to subsidise the price of petroleum products and utilities was justified because Ghanaians do not know what the oil money was being used for. �How many Ghanaians know the number of barrels of oil produced in a day from our oil fields?� he asked. According to him, government�s failure to clearly specify sectors of the economy where the oil money is being applied to also justifies his call for the oil money to be used to subsidise prices of utilities and petroleum products. Government on June 1, 2013 scrapped fuel subsidies to help restore fiscal stability after overshooting budget deficit target by nearly 100% in 2012. By this, the government has completely removed subsidies on petrol, gas oil and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), which formed about 95% of domestic (petroleum) products. Like several other countries in West and Central Africa, Ghana cut swelling fuel subsidies last year following pressure from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, who see them as wasteful and inefficient. From 2009-2012, government spent GH�1.5 billion on petroleum subsidy alone. The implementation of the Automatic Tariff Adjustment formula, adopted by the Public Utilities and Regulatory Commission (PURC), is aimed at achieving full-cost recovery on electricity and water, but government insists subsidies it offered in the past to cushion the poor and the vulnerable against electricity tariff hikes are still in place despite the latest tariff increases. Mr Kotei explained that restoring subsidies would cushion the effect of high fuel prices, which directly or indirectly affects the prices of goods and services in any society, and in the end the standard of living of the greater majority of the citizenry. He noted that when the prices of goods and services are allowed to escalate because of very high fuel price, it is the millions of struggling homes trying to make ends meet that bear the brunt. He said the high utility prices were also killing industries, adding that a company that was spending GH80,000 a month for electricity before the Automatic Adjustment was restored in October last year now spends GH145,000 a month, an increase of GH65,000. Mr Kotei expressed worry that the next adjustment of utility prices, due at the end of this month, would worsen the situation. The ICU General Secretary said the restoration of subsidies would also provide some respite for industries, which have been overburdened by taxes, power cuts, as well as utility prices.