Marketers of Liquified Petroleum Gas in the Republic of Ghana are unhappy with the government over a purported 18 pesewas increment on the domestic fuel commodity.
According to them, the latest tax increment on the commodity will increase their cost of operations and also burden consumers.
The Government of Ghana’s policy on LPG is targeting at increasing LPG penetration access from the current 26 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.
In an interview on Accra- based Neat FM, Vice Chairman of the LPG Marketing Companies Association of Ghana, Gabriel Kumi explained that the 18 pesewas increment on a kilogramme of LPG was purportedly introduced after the Majority Leader in Ghana’s Parliament, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu presented the 2021 Budget and Economic Policy of the government.
Presently, LPG is being 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 subsidies 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.
“At this stage, we’re appealing to the government to reconsider the decision to introduce 18 pesewas onto the product [LPG] and withdraw it so that we can save the LPG industry. Then, we can encourage more people to use the product…we can save mother Ghana at the end of the day.”
According to a data available to energynewsafrica.com, LPG consumption has witnessed a consistent decline over the last four months.
The data shows that LPG consumption in November 2021 was 35,000 metric tonnes, but the figure declined to 29,000 metric tonnes in December and continued to 28,000 metric tonnes and 26,000 metric tonnes in January and February respectively 2021.
Checks by energynewsafrica.com at the Ministry of Energy and National Petroleum Authority indicate that they were not aware of any increment in taxes on LPG.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com