Former Finance Minister and Ranking Member on Parliament’s Finance Committee, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, has called on the government to undertake a broader review of taxes and levies on petroleum products, arguing that the current temporary relief on diesel has not sufficiently reduced the burden on consumers.
In a Facebook post on Sunday, September 27, Dr Amin Adam said diesel was still being sold at prices ranging between GH¢17.55 and GH¢18.99 despite the government’s GH¢2 intervention.
He argued that the relief was being partly offset by other measures affecting the price of petroleum products.
According to him, the GH¢2 reduction had already been partly neutralised by a GH¢1-per-litre levy imposed by the government on fuel.
He also cited recent increases in levies on fuel oil, which he said had imposed additional costs on industries and power producers.
“Even with this temporary relief, half of the amount has already been neutralized by the GH¢1 per liter levy imposed by the government on fuel,” he stated.
Dr Amin Adam further attributed part of the continuing pressure at the pumps to the depreciation of the cedi, which he said had declined by 12% year-to-date.
He argued that exchange-rate movements directly affect the domestic cost of imported petroleum products because Ghana purchases petroleum products on the international market and therefore remains exposed to changes in both international prices and the value of the cedi.
“What we need now is a comprehensive intervention by the government. The temporary relief is not enough,” Dr Amin Adam said.
He called for a review of petroleum taxes, particularly the recent increases in fuel-related taxes, and urged the government to consider suspending or abolishing them as a way of providing further relief to consumers, pointing to similar tax measures undertaken by the previous NPP administration.
