Ghana: Diesel Price Could Hit GH¢28 Per Litre Without Government Intervention – NPA CEO

Ghanaian motorists could be paying as much as GH¢28 ($2.42) per litre for diesel if the government had not intervened to cushion consumers from rising international petroleum prices, the chief executive of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Godwin Edudzi Tamakloe, said.

Tamakloe said the government’s decision to remove GH¢2 per litre in regulatory margins on diesel had prevented the full increase in international prices from being passed on to consumers.

“Without the intervention from government, a litre of diesel should be selling within the region of GH¢28 per litre,” Tamakloe said in an interview with Accra-based Citi FM.

He said the intervention had helped keep diesel prices below what they would otherwise have been, as international diesel prices had risen sharply since February 2026.

“A metric tonne of diesel, which used to cost $794 as of February 2026, today is costing $1,519 per tonne. That’s almost twice the amount,” he said.

Tamakloe said the government had absorbed part of the increase instead of allowing the full cost to be reflected at the pump.

He estimated that government interventions to cushion consumers from rising petroleum prices had so far amounted to nearly GH¢1 billion.

“We have done close to GH¢1 billion by way of intervention to push the impact, which otherwise would have come directly to the consumers of petroleum products,” he said.

He said the GH¢2 per litre intervention meant that motorists buying 10 litres of diesel were effectively receiving GH¢20 in government support.

“Today, if you go out to the pump and buy 10 litres of diesel, what it means is that the Government of Ghana is directly putting 20 Ghana cedis in your pockets,” he said.

Tamakloe’s comments come amid renewed pressure for higher transport fares, with transport unions citing rising fuel costs among the reasons for proposed increases.

He said the government’s intervention should be taken into account when assessing the impact of fuel prices on the operating costs of private transport operators.

The government has maintained a GH¢2-per-litre intervention on diesel as part of measures to cushion consumers from rising petroleum prices.

Tamakloe said the international petroleum market remained volatile, meaning further movements in global prices could continue to affect Ghana’s domestic fuel market.