The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) is disappointed that the government did not propose any policy in the 2022 budget to address the continuous hikes in fuel prices.
This comes on the back of another increment in the price of fuel from GH¢6.90 to GH¢6.99 per litre.
A drive-through town on Sunday to ascertain the differences in the fuel prices at the various pumps revealed that most of the filling stations had effected changes relating to prices.
Two weeks ago, petrol was priced at GH¢6.90 per litre, but now stands priced at GH¢6.99 per litre. This represents a 1.3 percent rise or an additional GH¢0.90 pesewas on the price of the product.
Total filling stations had the price of Super at GH¢6.99 per litre, while Diesel stood at GH¢6.96 per litre.
Goil filling stations across the country are currently selling both Super and Diesel at GH¢6.99 per litre.
Shell, on the other hand, has a smaller increment in percentage, selling both Diesel and Super at GH¢6.90 per litre.
However, some of the other players seemed to be maintaining the old prices of GH¢6.90 or less. Allied filling stations, for instance, are selling their products at GH¢6.85 per litre.
Executive Secretary of the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC), Duncan Amoah, has expressed disappointment at government’s failure to address this issue in the 2022 budget.
He said, “The expectation of most of us in this country was that the budget would have taken care of these price increments. We didn’t see any action or intention by the Finance Ministry to manage fuel prices. The cedi is a problem. The level of taxes on the price build-up is also a big issue. We are pushing through the Energy Minister to see if something can be done about the taxes.”
“But it is disappointing that the Finance Ministry didn’t find one of the key issues that Ghanaians have been discussing over the period worthy of our attention. We would have expected a concrete measure to stabilize the cedi but nothing was said. Unfortunately, pump prices keep going up,” he cried.
Speaking to Citi Business News, he hoped that the situation would not escalate in the months ahead.
“We don’t know what will happen but we’ll keep hoping that before the year ends, maybe the Energy Ministry will be able to make a concrete case to the President again, just as the Price Stabilization Recovery Levy has been zeroed, maybe other taxes could also be zeroed.”
