The Minority in Parliament has criticised the government for introducing the Energy Sector Levy (Amendment) Bill, 2025, describing the move as excessive and ill-timed.
Parliament on Tuesday approved the bill, which imposes a GHS1 tax on every litre of petroleum product. The government argues that the measure is vital to rescuing Ghana’s debt-ridden energy sector, which is currently burdened with debts estimated at $3.1 billion.
Presenting the bill, Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson said the new levy would provide a dedicated funding source for fuel procurement to support power generation and reduce recurring power outages.
He also assured that recent gains in the value of the Ghanaian cedi would absorb the impact, ensuring consumers would not feel an immediate increase at the fuel pumps.
But the Minority rejected the rationale, accusing the government of breaking its own promise not to introduce new taxes — a commitment captured in the 2025 budget.
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The Minority staged a walkout during the bill’s passage, calling it a betrayal of public trust during a time of economic difficulty.
Speaking on Morning Starr with Naa Dedei Tettey, Oforikrom MP and Energy Committee member, Michael Aidoo, said the GHS1 levy was excessive and should have been set at 20 or 30 pesewas.
He added that one of the major contributors to the energy sector’s ballooning debt has been the depreciation of the cedi.
According to him, wow that the local currency is stabilising, the government has an opportunity to manage the sector’s finances without burdening consumers.
Aidoo also pointed out that electricity tariffs were recently increased by 14.75%, despite the improving performance of the cedi — a factor that should be reducing energy costs, not raising them.
He said, “Today, FX, which is the dollar, which is a factor in petroleum pricing, has come down to about 10cedis. Just yesterday or so, I was listening to the President, His Excellency President John Dramani Mahama, and he mentioned that the FX will not stay at 10 cedis. Within the year, it might float between 10 and 12 cedis. So today, importers are using, let’s say, 10 cedis or 11 cedis to price, and based on that, fuel prices are around 11 and 12 cedis this window.”
“We also know that there are other factors in petroleum pricing, like the world market price, which is volatile, which fluctuates any time. And this happens based on geopolitical issues, supply chain disruptions, and so on. There are various factors that affect the world market price. So tomorrow, if we wake up, and the world market price has to go up, which, of course, every trader, every petroleum trader knows that today, the world market price has come all the way from about $1000 to about $600, which is giving the government, adding on to the FX and giving the government the current price that we are enjoying.
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But is this the way to go? It wasn’t long ago that the government increased electricity by 14.75%. We also know that one of the factors that affects electricity pricing is the FX. So today, the FX is down, which means that most of the debt in the energy sector is going to reduce, because one of the reasons why the energy sector debt has ballooned is because of the cedi depreciation. So today that the ciggie has depreciated, definitely you will get some reduction in your debt. And the government should have even maybe some 20 or 30 pesewas. Then you will know that in the unlikely event that the world market price goes up, it will not affect us so much. The one cedi is just too high.”
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/Hamdia Mohammed
