A senior research fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), Dr. John Kwakye, has described government�s decision to reduce prices of petroleum products as needless.
The Ghana government in association with the Steering Committee of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in a communiqu� over the weekend announced a 20 per cent reduction on petroleum prices.
However, the date for the announcement of the new prices remains unclear as the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has said it has not received official communication to that effect.
Dr. Kwakye in an interview with Citi Business News said the government�s new move will only make it incur more debts. �I don�t see why we are rolling back and this is not in respect of the court order, this has nothing to do with the court order,� he stated.
�This has to do with the TUC raising an issue with prices and the government agreeing to roll back, I don�t see the need for that. �
Dr. Kwakye explained: �What is going to happen is that the subsidy element which was already in existence, there would come a time it is going to be bigger. The government is going to incur more cost by increasing the subsidies. I don�t think it�s necessary at all.
�The government must be bold and take these decisions but in an election year, all sorts of things happen. �
<<Print>>