The Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) users in the Republic of Ghana should be prepared to pay more for the domestic commodity in the next few days, Vice President of LPG Marketers, Gabriel Kumi has said.
The Government of Ghana, through the country’s downstream petroleum regulator, NPA, last Monday, October 11, 2021, announced the removal of the Price Stabilization and Recovery Levy (PSRL) fuel products.
The removal of the PSRL is anticipated to reduce the cost of LPG, petrol and diesel, but that looks impossible given the rising cost of LPG and crude oil on the international market
A kilogramme of LPG currently sells at GH7.50 while a litre of petrol and diesel sells at GHS6.52.
Reacting to the removal of the Price Stabilization and Recovery Levy, the Vice-Chairman of the LPG Marketers Association, Gabriel Kumi, albeit commended the government, cautioned consumers against jubilating over the new development.
He said per their projection, the LPG price will go up by 40 pesewas in the second pricing window, beginning from Saturday, October 16, 2021.
“We are excited that gradually, the government is beginning to see reason in our persistent and consistent call for the removal of taxes from a product like the LPG because currently, the consumption of LPG is on the decline. We are not growing as we should because of high prices.
“But we project that by December 2021, if we don’t take serious measures to reduce the price of LPG, we should be buying LPG at about GH¢10 per kilo.
“This is going to throw away a lot of people from consuming LPG, which is very dangerous for our environment and very dangerous for Ghana. So, we would want to renew our call on the government to consider removing the existing taxes on the LPG because this is a product we need to subsidise,” he stressed.
He mentioned that some neighbouring countries have subsidised the price of LPG, saying, “But in Ghana, we put as much as 20% tax on the product and this is seriously affecting consumption. We call on the government to do something about that.”
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com