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The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has announced a 7% increase in electricity tarrifs. At a press conference in Accra today Monday August 29, 2011, the Commission also announced a 6.7% increase in water tariffs, effective September 1 to November 30, 2011. Utility providers can now heave a sigh of relief with the announcements although their expectation of a minimum of 20 % was not given them. The new tariffs, 7 percent for electricity and 6.72 percent for water is as a result of an improvement in the quality of services. In the first quarter of 2011, the PURC announced a reduction in utility tariffs, the first time ever since the inception of the PURC. In the second quarter, the commission did not announce an increment due to the poor quality of service by the utility companies. In an interview with Citi News, Executive Secretary of the PURC Steven Adu indicated that the increment was necessary because help the providers accrue some revenue to help them better the services they provide to consumers.