The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers Ghana (COPEC) has advised the government of Ghana not to leave Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) out of the stimulus packages to support the SMEs.
The President of the West African nation, H.E. Nana Akufo-Addo, recently announced GHc 100 billion stimulus package to cushion households and businesses because of the impact of the Coronavirus.
The amount is expected to be disbursed from May 1.
A statement issued by COPEC noted that the adverse effects of the Coronavirus on volumes and revenues have forced some OMCs to cut down on staff; others have refused to lay off.
COPEC called on the state to ensure the various oil and gas companies are not left out in the announced SME support as a lot are reeling heavily under the harsh effects of three weeks’ lockdown and subsequent low volumes and revenues which can increase job losses and redundancy within the country.
“We further call on the regulator of the downstream (NPA) to also work out a mechanism to ease down on the heavy licence renewal fees charged to these companies to enable them adjust to the vagaries of the Coronavirus outbreak on their businesses with the view to ensuring they keep fuel prices lower for Ghanaians without the tendency to increase or collect their full margins which can only lead to increases in pump prices.
“Finally, we will like to reiterate an earlier call on the Ghana Revenue Authority to give a moratorium for the next six months to oil companies instead of the current one spanning up to end of July, to file their returns later than the current 45 days since sales volumes across the board has reduced significantly, and any attempts to enforce the earlier 21 or 45-day collections could only mean going to the banks to borrow, which, eventually, places undue pressures on them to engage in all manner of games to survive.”
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
