Head of Research at the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers Ghana (COPEC-Gh), Benjamin Nsiah, says government will be risking increasing public debt if it attempts to intervene in fuel price hikes.
According to him, the Ghanaian government has managed debt poorly over the years, and believes the introduction of subsidies to reduce the prices of fuel will only see to the country adding up to its already existing debts
“We are in a critical moment as prices of petroleum products keep going up, but it will not be a good idea if you try to regulate the sector and introduce subsidies. Any attempt to subsidize the sector will only rake in more debt and we all know how gov’t has over the years managed debt,” he told Samuel Eshun on the ‘Happy Morning Show.’
He revealed Ghanaians are still paying taxes introduced to recover debts incurred as a result of subsidies introduced for the petroleum sector for as far back as 2000. “The projection is that we are going to pay for them until 2035. So if you give someone the chance to introduce subsidies, they will only incur more debt, and ask us to pay more taxes the next time.”
Arguing subsidies are not the way to go, he charged government to come up with alternative measures and solutions to help Ghanaians. “We need thinkers and we need to explore other alternatives for the market. I think it is time our Foreign Ministry, Ministry of Energy and Finance Ministry explore other areas to resolve our fuel problems.”
Prices of petroleum products are expected to witness one of the biggest jump in recent times, from Thursday, June 16, 2022.
According to the data, a litre of diesel is expected to go up by 11.14%, while petrol will sell at 13%.
Petrol is currently being sold on the market for about ¢10.10 per litre, whereas diesel is going for ¢12.20.
Even though prices of crude oil have been fairly stabilised on the international market, the cost of refining the products are going up on the international market.
In Ghana, the cries for government to intervene in the deregulated regime are high but COPEC insists in the long run will suffer for the relief they are crying for.
