The Chamber for Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) has warned the public to expect a slight increase in the prices of fuel in the next pricing window in May.
Sampson Addae, the Monitoring and Research Officer at COPEC said “we should expect a slight increment. The stability of the cedi is a problem. It is a major concern when it comes to the pricing formula.”
Mr Addae said this when he spoke on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Show.
He continued to say that “for the world market prices, yes, I think it is stable. But the issue is the cedi depreciation. If the government is able to work on the cedi and manage the cedi very well so that it would appreciate instead of depreciating, then the price would be stable. If then, we would have a slight increment in the prices.”
Meanwhile, COPEC has expressed its disappointment at the President’s refusal to take taxes off the prices of fuel.
It would be recalled that the President, Nana Akufo-Addo on the occasion of the May Day told agitating workers and members of the Ghana Private Road Transport Users (GPRTU) that government could not take off the taxes imposed on petroleum products because that would cost the country some Ghc4 million.
Still on the issue of the expected increase in the price of transport fares, the Bolgatanga ‘Cando’ Drivers Association, operators of the popular covered tricycles used in the transportation of people, says it is contemplating a possible increment in the prices of transport fares.
This is after the association’s mother Union, the Ghana Private Road Transport Users (GPRTU) declared its intention to increase transport fares by some 20 percent. GPRTU argued that the price hikes have become necessary after the sustained increase in fuel prices, the increasing costs of spare parts, and the President’s reluctance to remove some tax components on the price build-up of petroleum products in the country.
Speaking on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Show, the Public Relations Officer of the Bolgatanga ‘Cando’ Drivers Association, Christopher Agana explained that the businesses of the operators of the ‘candos’ have been badly affected.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
