Ghana’s Minister for Energy, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh and officials of the Ministry are expected to meet the leadership of the LPG Marketers’ Association on Wednesday, April 14, 2021.
The meeting, energynewsafrica.com understands, will discuss the concerns arising out of the purported additional 18 pesewas tax on LPG.
The leadership of the LPG Marketers’ Association has expressed grave concern following a revelation by a former Deputy Minister of Finance, Cassiel Ato Forson, that the Finance Ministry had used the back door to introduce 18 pesewas tax on LPG even though it was not captured in the 2021 Budget and Economic Policy of the government which was presented in parliament recently.
The association noted that the move defeats the Government of Ghana’s policy on LPG of targeting an increasing LPG penetration access from the current 25 percent to 50 percent by 2030.
In view of this, the LPG marketers believe the continuous addition of taxes on the commodity would make it difficult for the country to achieve its target.
Vice Chairman of the LPG Marketing Companies Association of Ghana, Gabriel Kumi explained that LPG is presently sold in Ghana at GH¢6.30 per kilogramme and it is about the highest in West Africa.
“In the whole of West Africa, Ghana’s LPG is the highest. In Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Togo and Nigeria, the government subsidises LPG because they see it as fuel of choice,” he said.
“As an association, over the past three years, we’ve been calling on the government to consider removing the existing…about two percent tax on LPG to make it much more affordable to the ordinary Ghanaian,” he emphasised.
The LPG Marketing Association appealed to the government to reconsider the decision to introduce the new tax on the kilogramme of gas since that is the only way that the industry can expand.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
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