Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber of Oil Marketing Companies, Dr. Riverson Oppong has rejected assertions that the recently implemented fuel levy will not affect business.
Speaking on State of Affairs with Joshua Kodjo Mensah on Monday, June 9, the oil marketing executive said the effect of the legislation had to be looked at holistically.
Dr. Oppong attacked the quick manner in which such a consequential bill was passed, saying that the administration did not reach out to them regarding the increment.
READ: GH₵1 Fuel Levy: Withdraw or Slash Levy Significantly – Minority to Gov’t
“There are two sides of the coin. The government will see one cedi but industry will see millions of cedis so that is how we saw it and it all stems from how we unexpectedly woke up to a law passed, asking oil marketing companies to add one cedi as a levy to the government. The shocking part of this was that there was zero stakeholder engagement,” he said on the prime time show.
Dr. Oppong, who described the lack of consultation by government as “disrespectful,” said oil marketing companies were not “operationally and financially” ready to implement the revenue legislation.
He bemoaned the percentage build up of petroleum prices that went into the payment of levies, indicating that it adversely affected their businesses.
The Chief Executive Officer stated that while the oil marketing companies were strongly opposed to the levy, they were going to comply.
He explained that the association he led was neither controversial nor combative that government could not work with on pertinent issues of which the fuel levy was included.
Discussing the issue of a possible decrease in prices of petroleum products, the businessman said government could have done more to bring relief to consumers at a time when the cedi was performing well on the currency market.
Dr. Oppong disclosed that the chamber had appealed to government for a week-long window before paying the new levy in order to address challenges pertaining to their operations and costs.
READ: COMAC Rejects June 9 Implementation of Energy Sector Levy
Last week, Parliament approved a revised fuel levy which saw a GHC1 upward adjustment of prices of petroleum products.
The Minster of Finance, Dr. Ato Forson said in Parliament that the levy was aimed at raising additional revenue to address the needs of the power sector.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/Mitchell Asare Amoamah
